LMAS District Health Department may be nearing the end of a Medicare investigation that has resulted in payment denials of nearly $100,000. Health Officer Nick Derusha notified the Board of Health Monday, March 1, that National Government Services (NGS), a Medicare contractor performing the investigation on behalf of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, has finished and will send a formal notification to that effect. At its meeting in Newberry, the health board also approved a 4% hike in food licenses.

As part of the investigation, a third round of 40 records were to be reviewed and LMAS was to prepare a corrective action plan to address the unnecessary therapy and nursing identified in the previous round. But when Mr. Derusha notified NGS that the health department no longer offers home health and hospice services, corrections were not necessary and the investigation was terminated.

The letter from NGS will tell how much the investigation has cost the department, Mr. Derusha said.

LMAS was notified in August 2008 of abnormal Medicare billing patterns and, of 40 cases investigated, 33 were denied because the nursing care provided was unnecessary, according to the analysis.

Food License Fee

Increased by 4%

The increase in food license fees, which became effective Monday, March 1, will mean those applying for a temporary for-profit or nonprofit license will pay $2 more than before, $62 and $52, respectively. For standard food licenses, the lowest applicants will pay is $250, $10 more than before. The most an applicant would pay is $452, or $20 more.

While the fee has increased, in most cases the licenses are still lower compared to other health departments in Michigan. Mr. Derusha prepared a document comparing the increased license price to other counties such as Chippewa, Marquette, Huron, and Grand Traverse. Temporary for- profit licenses, for example, are the lowest among those counties.

LMAS May Contract With

Other Health Department

LMAS may contract with another health department in the Upper Peninsula to perform inspections of body art businesses, a service that must be performed according to an unfunded state requirement.

There is only one body art business in the Luce, Mackinac, Alger, Schoolcraft county (LMAS) coverage area, Mr. Derusha said, and it could be cheaper to contract than to conduct the inspections. Training an employee how to perform the inspection and making sure they are up to date on body art legislation would be costly for examining a single business. Mr. Derusha said he would look further into the matter.