SUPERVISOR LACEY VENTS WRATH ON MENTAL HEALTH WHISTLE-BLOWER.

Byline: David Greenberg Staff Writer

Supervisor Susan Lacey uncorked months of bottled-up anger Tuesday over a health care fiasco, blasting a top psychiatrist for blowing the whistle on the county's faulty billing practices.

Her criticism of Jerome Lance, who oversees Ventura County psychiatrists, came just before the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to spend $385,000 to audit the county's Medicare billing system, now under state and federal scrutiny.

``At least two-thirds of these costs are not directly from the actions of the board,'' Lacey said. ``They might be indirectly, but I certainly didn't tell Dr. Lance to go out and file a suit against the county . . . and turn around and try to change the way we deliver mental health services in the state of California.''

Lance reported his suspicions to the U.S. Attorney's Office, which conducted an investigation and determined the county had been overbilling Medicare for mental health services. The county agreed to pay $15.3 million to settle the allegations.

Lance is scheduled to receive a portion of the settlement for his role in uncovering the financial problems.

The billing problems were magnified by last year's failed merger of the county's Behavioral Health Department and the Public Social Services Agency into a massive super-agency. The merger was dissolved in December 1998 after the federal Health Care Financing Administration said the action violated regulations for reimbursement of medical expenses.

In addition to its problems with the federal government, the county came under fire from state officials. They have refused to release nearly $4 million for the county's Systems of Care program, which serves more than 8,000 mentally ill residents.

Eager to get the county's billing system back on track, supervisors voted in favor of hiring Meditech Health Services Inc. for $385,000 to conduct a three-year audit of the Behavioral Health Department's billing system.

Meditech is expected to handle the county's billing operations through March 30, when county officials hope their personnel will be trained to perform those tasks.

But in approving the hiring, Supervisor Frank Schillo blamed the health care crisis on Lacey, not Lance.

``When you're speeding, that's like blaming the speed sign or the cop when you get a ticket,'' he said. ``To blame (Lance) for telling somebody is like shooting the messenger.

``Supervisor Lacey said it was not the fault of the merger but that is just not true. If it isn't the board's fault and it isn't her fault, then I need a name as to whose fault it is, because that person ought to be fired.''

Lacey responded that neither she nor the board were responsible for the billing crisis. Officials say psychiatrists' billing numbers were used by social workers and other employees to authorize treatment for patients the doctors never saw.

``That was not part of the action of this board,'' Lacey said. ``Nor at any time did I know that people were not billing correctly. Nor did anyone tell me that and this goes back 10 years.''

Also Tuesday, a review by Standard & Poor's in New York determined that Ventura County should retain a single-A bond rating. And while noting that the county is not in a fiscal crisis, S&P said officials will have to make budget cuts to improve its financial situation.

The bond rating firm, which called a special committee meeting to assess the county's fiscal health following recent disclosures of budget problems, expects to review the county again in summer.

The county is facing a dwindling budget surplus stemming from continued fallout from problems in the Behavioral Health Department. Officials last week said the surplus had dropped to $6 million, and the Board of Supervisors pledged to cut $5 million from the county's 1999-00 budget.