Department of Health

Health Care Reform Act Surcharge Collections (Follow-Up Review)

The Department of Health assesses health care providers and insurers about $1.9 billion a year to obtain funds that are used to reimburse hospitals for costs incurred in providing care to the indigent, implementing certain health care initiatives, and supporting professional medical education programs. In our prior audit report 99-S-24, we examined the Department’s controls over these surcharge collections and found that improvements were needed. For example, procedures were needed to provide assurance that all owed payments were collected, and greater use could be made of certain available technologies, such as electronic data interchange and forms processing software. In our follow-up review, we found that substantial progress had been made by Department officials in implementing the recommendations contained in our prior report.

For a complete copy of Report 2001-F-33 click here.