NY enrolled dead in Medicaid

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ALBANY — Flaws in New York’s health exchange resulted in 21 dead people being enrolled in Medicaid and 333 getting continuing government-funded health coverage after they died, according to audit results released Thursday.

The state comptroller’s office reported that its auditors found overpayments of $3.4 million for the year starting Oct. 1, 2013, when the exchange began operating. That included $325,000 in coverage for the deceased.

“Only by chance does New York State Of Health receive notification of the death of an enrolled recipient and begin the process to end Medicaid coverage,” the report said.

Auditors faulted “a range of design and process flaws” in the health exchange’s process for checking eligibility. The exchange was established by the state under the federal Affordable Care Act to provide commercial health insurance or Medicaid to the state’s uninsured, enrolling more than 2.1 million people.

The auditors said the state also issued multiple identification numbers to several thousand adults, children, newborns and even some unborn children who enrolled, resulting in Medicaid overpayments of $2.8 million.

The health department established the exchange and runs it. It disputed several audit findings in a written response.