AGENCY FILES MEDI-CAL CLAIMS; BUDGET SHORTFALLS FILLED BY VENTURA COUNTY.Byline: Krystn Shrieve Staff Writer The Behavioral Health Behavioral health was first used in the 1980's to name the combination of the fields mental health and substance abuse. As an example, an organization serving both mental health and substance abuse clients might refer to its practice as behavioral health or Department could face a cash flow problem by October after dipping into county coffers to cover millions of dollars in Medi-Cal claims that may no longer be eligible for reimbursement Reimbursement Payment made to someone for out-of-pocket expenses has incurred. . Ventura County's top lawyer has given the Behavioral Health Department the go-ahead Friday to submit $13 million in back claims to the state, but officials have been unsure the state will fully reimburse the funds. The county's auditor-controller, Tom Mahon, would not elaborate on how the lack of cash flow could affect county services. ``What has been happening is that we've been using the county's cash to cover it,'' Mahon said. ``But that's not an inexhaustible supply. Yes, the matter is serious, and we are working with Behavioral Health to solve the problems.'' After holding the claims for about 10 months - ever since the county was told to stop submitting federal Medicare claims because of improper billing practices - the county turned over the backlog of claims to the state on Friday. Up to four months of claims may not be reimbursed because they were not submitted on time, the state has said. The county has been unable to estimate the potential loss. Ventura County Supervisor Frank Schillo said he was hopeful the county would be reimbursed the full amount. ``It's so frustrating frus·trate tr.v. frus·trat·ed, frus·trat·ing, frus·trates 1. a. To prevent from accomplishing a purpose or fulfilling a desire; thwart: ,'' Schillo said. ``Ever since I was elected I wanted to get a balanced budget Balanced budget A budget in which the income equals expenditure. See: budget. balanced budget A budget in which the expenditures incurred during a given period are matched by revenues. , and we finally succeeded in doing that right before the merger and now these precipitous acts have put us in this predicament.'' Larry Morris Lawrence Morris (born December 10, 1933 in Atlanta, Georgia) is a retired American football linebacker. Morris attended the Georgia Tech. After college, in the National Football League with the Chicago bears, Los Angeles Rams and Atlanta Falcons. , an analyst in the county's Chief Administrative Office, said under normal circumstances Medi-Cal bills are submitted to the state electronically each month. Reimbursement for bills submitted under the regular system, he said, typically takes close to five months. But Mahon said the county doesn't have the luxury of waiting five months. Behavioral Health Director David Gudeman did not return telephone calls for comment. Nora Romero, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Mental Health, has said in previous interviews that the county may only be reimbursed for services provided within the last six months. She did not return phone calls for comment Friday. The county purposely pur·pose·ly adv. With specific purpose. purposely Adverb on purpose USAGE: See at purposeful. Adv. 1. stopped submitting claims to the department in November 1998, once a federal investigation of its billing practices was under way. Also on hold is approximately $3 million in federal Medicare reimbursements from the same time period. The state department made a cursory cur·so·ry adj. Performed with haste and scant attention to detail: a cursory glance at the headlines. [Late Latin curs review of the county's Medi-Cal billing practices last month and urged the county to immediately resume billing. But county officials opted to hold off while County Counsel James McBride James McBride may mean:
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