By Catherine Candisky
The Columbus Dispatch
Copyright 2008 The Columbus Dispatch
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A Columbus ambulance company owes more than $1.1 million to the state’s Medicaid program after improperly billing for transporting patients insured under the tax-funded program for low-income Ohioans.
A state audit revealed that Access Transit Company billed for duplicative services, those not covered by the program, and for transporting patients who had died or were hospitalized at the time of service.
The audit, covering company operations between Oct. 1, 2002, and Sept. 30, 2005, also found the company did not have required personnel on many transports.
“Medicaid providers in the state must be held accountable for the public money they spend,” state Auditor Mary Taylor said.
But whether the state can recover the funds is in doubt, acknowledged Taylor’s spokeswoman, Emily Frazee.
Access Transit closed in December 2006 and its owner, R. Dale Sinclaire, died Feb. 10, after filing for personal bankruptcy. At the time of his death, he owned Dollar Stop Plus More in Urbana and had recently obtained his pilot’s license.
The audit was submitted to Attorney General Marc Dann and the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, which oversees the Medicaid program for review. Dann’s office ultimately will decide whether to seek reimbursement from Sinclaire’s estate.
According to the audit, Access Transit submitted duplicate bills on 4,443 occasions for transporting the same patient, on the same date, to the same location.
In other instances, the company billed Medicaid for two or more passengers when only one qualified for the program and the others were accompanying the patient. The audit also revealed bills for five patients who received services on dates after they had died.
Auditors provided Sinclaire with a draft of the findings but he was in poor health and apparently unable to respond before his death.