State Auditor Mike Foley announces examination into Nebraska DHHS program
LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — Nebraska State Auditor Mike Foley announced a recent examination of the State of Nebraska’s Aged and Disabled (AD) Waiver program.
The AD Waiver program provides in-home services to elderly and disabled Nebraskans and is administered by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Division of Disability and Aging. The program is funded by Federal and State tax dollars and amounts to nearly $434 million.
10 years ago, the program cost $64 million. The program has seen a climb of 65% in costs in the past two years alone.
“A major challenge in controlling surging costs is eradicating fraudulent billing by unscrupulous providers who exploit the program’s current administrative weaknesses,” Foley said.
Foley and his audit team found multiple examples of questionable billing including providers billing for 47 hours in one day, providers receiving payment for services while working at other places of employment and more.
“I have never been shy about criticizing DHHS for program mismanagement. In this situation, though, I am encouraged to see that the agency is already implementing needed measures to catch dishonest providers. With nearly 2,000 providers to watch, this is no small task,” Foley said. “Hopefully, those controls will prove sufficient to prevent further deceptive billing and the resulting theft of public funds.”
