I am pleased to announce the work plan for the Office of the Medicaid Inspector General (OMIG) for State Fiscal Year 2008-09.  This document is the agency’s first published plan, reflecting work that serves as the foundation for our future efforts as the agency assures that providers meet program quality standards for Medicaid enrollees in a system free of waste, fraud, abuse and improper payments.

This document provides a roadmap for our endeavors for this fiscal year and beyond.  We will work with the Office of Health Insurance Programs (OHIP) as the state Medicaid agency, a number of other state agencies, as well as the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the New York State Comptroller’s office, to recover inappropriately distributed Medicaid funds.

Our office is expanding to accommodate the need to increase auditing, investigating and surveillance activities across New York State .  This agency is charged with overseeing potential Medicaid fraud, waste and abuse activities of Medicaid-certified providers of all levels, and this work plan reflects our vision for addressing these issues over the next 12 months.

We appreciate the efforts of New York State ’s health care providers, as well as their compliance officers, and billing and coding staff, to adhere to the rules of the Medicaid program.  We want to ensure that quality, cost-effective health care is accessible to Medicaid enrollees, fairness to service providers, and a system free of fraud, waste and abuse for the taxpayers of New York State.

James G. Sheehan
Medicaid Inspector General