New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced today the following audits and examinations have been issued.

Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS): Problem Gambling Treatment Program (2018-S-39)

OASAS has not conducted a comprehensive needs assessment or social impact study to identify the number or location of individuals in need of problem gambling treatment services since 2006, even though four commercial casinos opened in New York State in 2013. Therefore, auditors could not determine whether OASAS has sufficient treatment programs available for those in need.

Department of Health: Medicaid Claims Processing Activity Oct. 1, 2017 Through March 31, 2017 (2017-S-63)

Auditors identified over $119 million in improper Medicaid payments, including $107.7 million in Medicaid managed care premiums were paid on behalf of recipients with concurrent comprehensive third-party health insurance. By the end of the audit fieldwork, about $6.7 million of the improper payments had been recovered. Auditors also identified 38 active Medicaid providers who were charged with or found guilty of crimes that violated laws or regulations governing certain health care programs.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority: Long Island Rail Road: Unexpected Delays and Events (2018-S-30)

Auditors reviewed 49 unexpected delays and events over a 2½-year period and found that, in some cases, the needs of passengers were not adequately addressed. All notifications of delays or unexpected events were not always made, alternative transportation arrangements were not documented, and procedures were not clear.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority Homeless Outreach Program at the Metro-North Railroad (2018-S-36)

In June 2017, Metro-North entered into a five-year contract (totaling $2,142,399) with Bowery Residents’ Committee (BRC) to provide homeless outreach services. Despite the requirement under the contract, Metro-North has not developed any quantifiable performance measures for the BRC contract and, as a result, has no basis for determining whether BRC’s outreach services are meeting expectations for assisting homeless clients. The homeless outreach data BRC reported was not accurate or complete, and Metro-North does not have a process in place to verify reported data.

New York State Health Insurance Program: CVS Health: Accuracy of Drug Rebate Revenue Remitted to the Department of Civil Service (2016-S-41)

Auditors reviewed the rebate revenue generated from agreements with six drug manufacturers and found that CVS Health did not always properly invoice drug manufacturers for rebates or remit all rebate revenue to Civil Service that it collected. As a result, Civil Service is due $2,052,653 in rebates.

State Education Department (SED): Association to Benefit Children (ABC): Compliance With the Reimbursable Cost Manual (2017-S-28)

For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2014, auditors identified $263,196 in ineligible costs that ABC reported for reimbursement and recommend such costs be disallowed. These ineligible costs included $164,004 in personal service costs, $13,696 in other than personal service costs and $85,496 in depreciation expenses.

State Education Department (SED): Facilities Planning Bureau Project Review (2018-S-2)

SED does not perform project plan reviews timely, and lacks guidelines that define a reasonable time period to review a project. As of August 2018, SED estimated a lag time to begin its architectural and engineering reviews as two to four weeks and 38 to 40 weeks, respectively. While the agency has taken some steps to address this issue, staff vacancies and new responsibilities continue to contribute to the project review backlog.

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