Auditor: Darke Co. ambulance company over-billed Medicaid by $448,000

A Darke County ambulance company over-billed Medicaid by $448,000, according to a state audit released this week, illustrating Ohio's ongoing efforts to tamp down a problem previously exposed by the I-Team.

The state audit found that Integrity Ambulance Service lacked the proper paperwork to justify hundreds of transports from July 2011 through June 2014. The company is ordered to repay the state $478,094, with interest.

“Rules governing the use of Medicaid wheelchair van services are designed to ensure patient safety and proper reimbursements,” Ohio Auditor Dave Yost said. “Complying with driver qualifications, service documentation and service authorization, among other requirements, are non-negotiable.”

An I-Team investigation in 2014 revealed that dozens of ambulance companies were accused of over-billing Medicaid more than $10 million in recent years, and one mechanism meant to spot fraud routinely failed.

Since then, state officials have implemented new efforts to spot fraud in ambulette companies and other Medicaid providers that identified hundreds of rules violations last year.

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