Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

Feds goad states on Medicaid drug rebate accounting.  The Medicaid drug rebate program has become a compliance flashpoint for pharmaceutical manufacturers - and the HHS Office of Inspector General wants to make sure state Medicaid agencies have their act together when it comes to balancing the books on this hot-button issue. Over the course of the year, the watchdog agency has examined drug rebate programs in dozens of states, calling health departments to the mat if their collection procedures aren't up to snuff. In the latest round of audits, the OIG takes the measure of programs in five states - Kentucky, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Florida - all of which, the agency says, need to get their houses in order. Problems ranged from lack of appropriate accounting records and ineffective collections procedures to the failure to pursue interest as appropriate. To see the reports, numbered A-04-03-06006, A-04-03-06010, A-04-03-06011, A-04-03-06012 and A-04-03-06016, go to http://oig.hhs.gov/oas/oas/cms.html.