A Colorado lawmaker is asking that multiple forms of communication be used to communicate with Medicaid providers when it comes to the audit process. The request comes after an assisted living operator in the state is out almost $50,000 after audit notices mistakenly went to her email’s spam folder, CBS Denver reported Monday.
Nicole Schiavone, owner of Wildflower Assisted Living, which cares for individuals with brain injuries, said she received notice in her email last year of an upcoming audit. Schiavone confirmed receipt and waited for instruction on the needed documentation.
“Then I didn’t hear anything, and COVID hit and so I was like, ‘Maybe they’re not doing them,’ ” she told the media outlet. The state, however, had sent two subsequent emails that went to her spam folder. By the time Schiavone realized what had happened, she was out almost $50,000 after the state took the money back.
In response, state Sen. Jeff Bridges, a Democrat, has introduced a bill requiring the state to notify Medicaid long-term care operators of needed audit documentation via email, letter and phone call before taking steps to withdraw money for non-compliance.
“For me, this is about good government,” Bridges told CBS Denver. “Governments need to be accountable in order to have the trust of the people they represent. This was brought to us. We said, ‘You’re right. This isn’t the way the government should work,’ and here we are fixing it.”
