Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services

Revenue Collection at Addiction Treatment Centers

The Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) operates 13 inpatient treatment centers. In most instances, the cost of the services provided to the patients is covered by Medicaid; however, private insurers and the patients themselves may also be responsible for these costs. We examined billing and revenue collection practices at the centers, and concluded that significant improvements are needed. We reviewed billing and other records relating to 486 randomly selected patients at 6 of the 13 centers. We determined that, during our 30-month audit period, the centers did not bill Medicaid for more than $217,000 in services provided to patients who were enrolled in Medicaid, did not collect almost $647,000 for services provided to patients who appeared to be eligible for Medicaid, and did not identify any payer for patient services costing more than $470,000. We recommended that the amounts still collectible be billed and collected, and a number of center practices be improved.

For a complete copy of Report 2003-S-30 click here.
For a copy of the 90-day response click here.