HHS updates process to ensure state and federal reimbursements come back to San Benito County
Kathy Flores, the director of San Benito County’s Health and Human Services, presented to the board of supervisors the changes in the claim process for in-home support services at the Tuesday meeting.
“We now have a different person in charge of overseeing the claims and fiscal staff,” Flores said. “Nadine DaRoza has taken over all other claiming. We have set up a system of checks and balances.”
At the county board meeting Nov. 15, the supervisors were apprised that the county would not be receiving reimbursement for more than $400,000 in claims from 2007-08 and 2008-09. The reimbursement claims are supposed to be filed quarterly.
Supervisor Anthony Botelho described hearing the news in November as a “kick to the stomach” at this week’s meeting.
Flores said that she had been in contact with Congressman Sam Farr’s office to see if there is a way for the county to be reimbursed for the late funds, which originate on the federal level. She is waiting to hear back from him on the matter. Supervisor Margie Barrios urged that if a positive response is not received from Farr, Flores should also contact state legislators.
In an attachment to the supervisors’ agenda, Flores outlined the changes that would be made to ensure that claims are not filed late.
The claims will be prepared by an accounting technician, who will submit them for a review by the administrative services manager, who will then submit it to the public authority manager. From there, the claim will be submitted to the director of HHSA, currently Flores, for signature. The claim will also go to the county auditor for signature with all support documentation. The administrative services manager will review monthly revenue and expenditure reports to verify when the reimbursement is received.
Supervisors Robert Rivas and Jaime De La Cruz asked if the new process would be enough to prevent something like a late claim from happening in the future.
“We also sat down with an outside auditor to refine the process,” Flores said. “He thought they were appropriate.”
Internal task assignment work sheets also have been created for each fiscal staff member. The work sheets will be submitted to the administrative services manager monthly with documentation of when a task is completed or the status of the task. The administrative services manager will meet monthly with the director to review the status of all claims and reports.
The average IHSS claim for each quarter is $79,000 and includes administrative costs such as expense, salary and benefits for public authority staff, who administer the program; service and supply operating budgets; and health insurance for providers for long-term care.
Botelho was mindful that the county is aware when the payment for claims comes in so they are sure something doesn’t go wrong once the claims are sent to the state for reimbursement. He also asked how the department would be making up the lost funds.
“The cost is incurred,” Flores said, noting that the department would likely use realignment funds for other services to keep its budget balanced.
She said the department has already taken steps to cut costs by not filling positions when someone retires and that she was looking at giving up an office suite at the San Felipe Road location to save rent costs.
