Audit Says Missouri Should Return $21.4 million in Medicaid Payments to State-Owned Hospital

The Office of Inspector General cannot force the state to pay the money

An audit released today said Missouri should return $21.4 million in federal Medicaid payments made to a state-owned children's hospital in St. Louis County.

The Federal Office of Inspector General report found Hawthorn Children's Psychiatric Hospital on Pennsylvania Avenue near Pagedale failed for nearly five years to fulfill regulatory requirements to qualify for the federal Medicaid reimbursements. The audit recommended the Missouri Department of Social Services, which administers and disperses the federal funding, pay back all but $1.4 million of the $22.7 million it received from July 1, 2005, through June 30, 2010 — the period of the audit.

H/T Mark Sletten