PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Rhode Island plans to automatically dock a portion of Medicaid payments to dozens of nursing homes to recoup more than $80 million meant to hold the homes over as they waited on Medicaid eligibility determinations for patients already in their care.
The Providence Journal reports that Lisa Vura-Weis, acting secretary of the Executive Office of Health & Human Services, told legislators this week the homes are not reimbursing the state quickly enough.
Because of an error with UHIP, the state’s computer system that verifies eligibility, most nursing homes were paid twice for the same patients.
Nursing home lobbyists say homes are owed millions in backlogged Medicaid claims and escalating collection efforts may put them in financial jeopardy.
The state said recouping enough of the contingency payments is necessary to maintain the Medicaid system’s financial health.