The results of a congressionally mandated audit by the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General of Provider Relief Fund distributions are “alarming” and show that assisted living operators should have more financial assistance coming to them, according to Argentum.
Federal auditors said that HHS did not have procedures to verify losses, potentially leading to countless fraudulent payments; did not subtract automatic payments made to multiple providers’ subsidiaries from provider-related calculations, resulting in significant overpayments; and did not require repayment of disbursements made to providers that clearly indicated that they did not want to receive relief funds.
Additionally, according to the report, neither HHS nor its Health Resources and Services Administration required providers to submit supporting documentation for their estimated revenue losses so, consequently, those losses could not be verified.
“Such lack of accountability and potential for fraud and abuse could have resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in inappropriately allocated funds,” Maggie Elehwany, senior vice president of public policy at Argentum, said in a statement. “To learn this at a time when assisted living frontline caregivers continue to face steep financial struggles because of the inequitable PRF funds received is beyond frustrating.”
The assisted living sector received approximately one-12th of the dollars that the skilled nursing sector received from the PRF, Argentum noted, also indicating that assisted living providers received the smallest cut of the pie compared with other frontline providers, despite caring for about the same number of residents as skilled nursing facilities.
“The mismanaged funds identified in this report must be recouped and equitably distributed to assisted living frontline caregivers,” Elehwany said
