Colorado Medicaid claims botched

Agencies that care for Coloradans with intellectual and developmental disabilities have been left in dire straits as the state switched to a new computer system that failed to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in claims.

The state Medicaid department’s transition to a new software system on March 1 resulted in rejection of claims submitted by agencies that provide homes, therapy and other care to children and adults who have autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy and other disabilities.

State officials say they are fixing the errors, but agencies say the glitches put services at risk for thousands of Coloradans and that they still are awaiting funds to pay staff for services already provided.

Behavior Services of the Rockies in Louisville, which helps people with behavioral issues learn to communicate and live in the community, is waiting on claims of about $80,000. The state has paid only about twothirds of the company’s claims since the transition to Colorado interChange from Hewlett Packard Enterprise, said executive director Travis Blevins.

The state Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, which includes the Medicaid division, agreed this week to pay the service agency and others a portion of the funds as an advance while the state continues sorting out the billing errors.

The rejected claims “endangered services for 440 individuals,” Blevins said. “We were about to discharge them from services.”

Other service agencies had similar concerns, including Parker Personal Care Homes of Lakewood. Director Jodi Walters said she expected some billing issues would occur with the payment system transition and that she is pleased to see officials now “attempting to be responsive.”

The system has denied about half of all claims so far this month. It approved 1.18 million claims and rejected 1.2 million, spokesman Marc Williams said. The new system has paid $374 million so far this month in Medicaid claims to all types of providers.