An audit by New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli finds that two managed health care companies that were supposed to save New York taxpayers money failed to do so.
United HealthCare and Amerigroup were hired by the State Health Department to provide healthcare services through New York’s Medicaid program. They were supposed to hold down costs by keeping track of doctors and patients and avoiding redundant expenses.
But the comptroller’s audit found the two companies made more than $6.5 million in improper or questionable payments to care providers who were ineligible for Medicaid funding. That includes $60,000 paid out for drugs, allegedly prescribed by doctors who were actually dead.