Scott Strong, Deputy Auditor General, is pleased to announce that the performance audit of the Court Originated Liability Section (COLS), Medical Services Administration, Department of Community Health (DCH), is the winner of the AOPTA for the six-month period ended June 30, 2007. The audit team consisted of Scot Hazel, supervisor; team members Pam Huffman, Corrie Jameson, and former employee Aimee Wingle; Rick Stafford, Audit Division Administrator; and Tom Beuerle, Audit Manager. In addition, significant technical assistance was provided by Andy Mitchell.

This was a very complex audit and required a lot of extra effort from the audit team. The audit crew had to obtain a thorough understanding of Michigan’s Medicaid program and its complex federal regulations. And because COLS operations were intertwined with several other programs, the audit crew also had to obtain a thorough understanding of Michigan’s no-fault automobile insurance laws, workers’ compensation laws, paternity and child support laws, and related administrative rules and regulations.

Auditing efforts were complicated by COLS’s interdependence with other State and local government offices, such as local Friend of the Court and prosecuting attorney offices. Auditing efforts were also hampered by the significant control deficiencies that we identified (and reported on) during the audit. The audit included several data matches, along with considerable data analysis and case file review. As an example, we obtained access to Michigan Department of State Police automobile crash data and Statewide workers’ compensation claim data and successfully matched it with State Medicaid claims data. We subsequently identified Medicaid expenditures that were the liability of other parties.

The audit report contained 11 audit findings and 15 corresponding recommendations. Seven of the audit findings were classified as material conditions. As a result of the audit, we identified $207.4 million in potential or missed Medicaid recoveries.