Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Department Inspector General topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Inspector General outlines new department structure, proposes codifying internal audit authority and expanding fraud-detection system
Summary
Inspector General Elizabeth Smith described the Department of Inspector General's structure and said the department will seek legislation to codify internal audit authority (now established by executive order) and to allow the state's Medicaid fraud-detection system (the MFAD) to accept broader data for enterprise-wide fraud detection.
Elizabeth Smith, who identified herself as the state Inspector General and cabinet secretary for the Department of Inspector General, told the Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee she and chief counsel Tammy Harrelson had come to introduce the department, its divisions and potential legislation the office plans to pursue.
"I'm Elizabeth Smith," she said, and explained that the new department houses the Medicaid Inspector General's office, the Fair Housing Commission (previously independent), and an internal audit division that was moved from the Department of Finance and Administration. Smith said the offices are co-located in the Tower Building on the 12th floor.
Smith told senators the department will pursue two main statutory changes. First, legislation to codify the authority and duties of the internal audit division currently set out by executive order; she said codification would avoid future uncertainty about the division's scope and duties. "What we're doing is presenting legislation to codify...so there wouldn't be any questions going forward," Smith said.
Second, Smith described proposed changes to the Medicaid Inspector General code section so the state's enterprise fraud-detection management system (referred to in testimony as the MFAD) could accept and use data from programs beyond Medicaid. She said a prior procurement was held in the past but delayed because of a new Medicaid management information system (MMIS), and now the department wants to explore expanding the system's scope: "we would like to change the legislation...to allow for that sharing across the state, for data purposes," she said.
Smith invited questions; none were raised during the committee's allotted time. The committee thanked the witnesses and moved on to the next agenda items.
Next steps: Smith's office indicated it will pursue drafting and introduction of the two statutory changes; the committee did not take action on either proposal at this meeting.
