Date: 01/12/2012
Final
Presentation by the State Auditor's Office
COMMITTEE ON JOINT HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
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01:37 PM -- Presentation by the State Auditor's Office
Senator Boyd called the meeting to order and made announcements related to the committee's schedule.
01:39 PM
Representative Gerou introduced herself to the committee and noted that she is the Joint Budget Committee's liaison to the Senate Health and Human Services and the House Health and Environment Committees. Representative Summers noted that the goal of the SMART Government Act (House Bill 10-1119) is to create communication between the departments and the committees.
01:41 PM
Monica Bowers, Office of the State Auditor, explained that the Legislative Audit Committee requested that the State Auditor's Office brief committees of reference regarding audit recommendations for state departments that are past due. She discussed the performance and financial recommendations for the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing that it had agreed to implement, but had not (Attachments A and B). She noted that there is one performance audit recommendation for the department, concerning data reporting for the Children's Basic Health Plan. Ms. Bowers noted that the recommendation was related to the information that the department needs to effectively manage the program and the expectation of the department to develop an appropriate plan to collect the data. She stated that the department is in the process of implementing the recommendation, but the required changes had not yet been made in the Colorado Benefits Management System (CBMS).
01:46 PM
Marisa Neff, Office of the State Auditor, described the finding classification levels for audit findings in financial audits: a material weakness, which is the most serious level, a significant deficiency, which is not as serious as a material weakness, and a deficiency in internal control, which is the least serious finding. Ms. Neff noted the report provided to the committee contains 51 financial recommendations that had not been implemented by the department in FY 2009 and FY 2010, including 15 material weaknesses in FY 2010, and 21 in FY 2009, 12 significant deficiencies in both FY 2010 and FY 2009, and 24 deficiencies in internal control in FY 2010 and 18 in FY 2009. She described the report in more detail, and the recommendations that were classified as material weaknesses. She described Recommendation 58 from the FY 2010 report, which concerns reporting of provider licensing information to the Medicaid Management Information System. She noted that this recommendation had been made in FY 2008, FY 2009, and FY 2010, and was classified as a material weakness in each year. She discussed audit findings related to eligibility processes for Medicaid and CHP+, and further described recommendations related to provider licensing, participation agreements, and certifications. She urged the committee to review the recommendations contained in the report that were classified as significant deficiencies.
02:00 PM
Ms. Neff responded to questions from Senator Aguilar regarding the State Auditor's annual process for auditing Medicaid eligibility processes. Ms. Neff further responded to questions from the committee regarding the significance of the audit recommendations and the failure of the department to implement the recommendations from year to year. The committee discussed the financial auditing process and how the audits relate to the performance of departments in administering certain programs.
02:12 PM
Ms. Bowers responded to questions from the committee regarding whether the department had requested a waiver from the audit recommendations based on financial constraints. Ms. Bowers responded to questions from the committee regarding the citizenship documentation of clients served in programs administered by the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing.