VENTURA COUNTY FINDS RELIEF; MEDICARE REPAYMENTS TO INSURER SET AT 42 DAYS, NOT 9 MONTHS.Byline: Krystn Shrieve Staff Writer In a break for Ventura County, it will be allowed to repay Blue Cross of California for only 42 days - rather than nine months - of Medicare benefits it improperly received during a failed merger of its mental health and social services social services Noun, pl welfare services provided by local authorities or a state agency for people with particular social needs social services npl → servicios mpl sociales agencies. The agreement, reached Aug. 2 and announced Monday, means taxpayers will have to pay the medical insurer an estimated $100,000 to $300,000 for inpatient services provided from April 7 to May 19, 1998, the initial days of the merger between 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 and Public Social Services Agency. Officials could not estimate how much the county would have had to pay if it had been held liable for Medicare benefits received from April 7 until the merger was rescinded Dec. 22. The issue was investigated by Blue Cross of California, the insurance company that handles Medicare payments for services at the Ventura County Medical Center Ventura County Medical Center is a hospital in the city of Ventura, California, USA. It is a 208 bed acute care hospital. The county also operates a 49 bed campus in Santa Paula. . The investigation comes on the heels of one by the U.S. Attorney's Office that resulted in the county agreeing to pay a $15.3 million settlement covering nearly a decade of faulty Medicare billing practices. ``I think it's safe to say that everybody is happy when each of these issues gets resolved,'' said Larry Morris, a health analyst for the county. The controversial creation of the county Human Services Agency was voided void·ed adj. Heraldry Having the central area cut out or left vacant, leaving an outline or narrow border: a voided lozenge. after nine months because the U.S. Health Care Financing Administration Health Care Financing Administration, n.pr department in the U.S. agency of Health and Human Services responsible for the oversight of the Medicaid and Medicare benefit programs, including guidelines, payment, and coverage policies. said the merger violated guidelines for seeking health care reimbursements. The main problem, HCFA HCFA abbr. Health Care Financing Administration HCFA, n.pr See Health Care Financing Administration. officials said, was that the structure did not place Ventura County Medical Center in direct control of medical services being rendered. Instead, the hospital and its clinics were placed under the umbrella of the new $171 million-a-year Human Services Agency, which oversaw both medical and social programs. On May 19, 1998, however, the county put Chief Administrative Officer A chief administrative officer (CAO) is responsible for administrative management of private, public or governmental corporations. The CAO is one of the highest ranking members of an organization, managing daily operations and usually reporting directly to the chief executive Lin Koester in charge of the hospital. Although that role dissolved seven months later, along with the merger, Koester's position was enough to satisfy HCFA that billing guidelines were being met, officials said. As part of HCFA's ongoing investigation into the failed merger, the federal agency still is looking into billing practices used at the county's 42 clinics. |
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