Metro

Feds want NY to repay $60.8M in Medicaid reimbursements

ALBANY — Federal auditors say New York should repay $60.8 million in Medicaid reimbursement for unallowable costs for room and board for taking care of developmentally disabled people.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services inspector general says repairs, maintenance, utilities, and property-related costs should have been excluded in calculating Medicaid payment rates at state-operated residences.

The audit recommends the state Health Department refund the $60.8 million federal share of those costs.

Auditors say the department should ensure that the state’s Office for People With Developmental Disabilities excludes all those unallowable room-and-board costs from its rates.

Health Department spokesman Bill Schwarz says they disagree with the finding and believe the methodology for setting rates, in place since 1998 and revised in 2010, complies with the Medicaid requirements.