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Medicaid billing dispute between state and counties heats up

A fight between Florida Counties and the state over who should pay outstanding medical bills for low-income people continues. Lee County is asking an administrative law judge to settle a dispute between it and the Agency for Healthcare Administration over how much it owes.

Lee County’s claims against the state centers on an April bill for more than $338,000.  The county says it should have gotten a 15 percent discount that wasn’t applied.

Under the state’s new Medicaid billing law, counties can choose to pay their outstanding bills at a discounted rate, or pay 100-percent of the bill and then sue the state over the incorrect charges. If counties don’t obey the law, they stand to lose a portion of the revenue earned from half-cent sales tax funds. 

Lee County’s claim is part a larger fight over unpaid county Medicaid bills worth an estimated $300 million. The counties are charged for a portion of Medicaid costs for residents in hospitals and nursing homes. But the counties argue the state agency that oversees the program has made a series of errors resulting in duplicate or incorrect charges.

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Lynn Hatter is a Florida A&M University and Florida State University graduate with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master's in Professional Communication. Lynn has been with WFSU since 2007 with education and health care issues as her key coverage areas.  She has worked with several organizations, including Kaiser Health News.  Lynn has also partnered with USC-Annenberg's Center for Child Wellbeing on the nationally acclaimed series "Committed," which explored the prevalence of involuntary commitment use on children.
She serves on the board of RTDNA and the United Way of the Big Bend, with previous service on the board of the First Amendment Foundation of Florida.

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