Dept of Social Services failed to take down Social Security numbers of clients: statewide audit

The Auditors of Public Accounts’ annual statewide survey of all government agencies is out. Here’s a little smoking gun in the Dept of Social Services:

“Our review disclosed that SSNs were not entered into EMS in 19 of the 25 cases
tested. However, eight of the clients were non-qualified aliens who are allowed
to receive emergency medical services per Section 3211.10 of the State Medicaid
Manual issued by the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services. Further
review of the case files of the 11 clients in which a SSN was not entered into
EMS disclosed that a SSN was included in the hardcopy case file for nine
clients. We also noted that for three of the six cases in which SSNs were entered
into EMS, there was no indication within EMS that the SSN was verified.

Effect: Without entering the SSN into EMS, DSS is not able to use the IEVS to verify
eligibility using wage information, as required by federal regulations.

Cause: The errors appeared to be oversights by DSS eligibility workers.

Recommendation: The Department of Social Services should obtain and verify the Social Security
numbers of all Medicaid clients and enter the Social Security numbers into its
Eligibility Management System.

Agency Response: ‘The department agrees with the finding. The department will send an email to
appropriate staff to reinforce the need to enter valid SSNs in EMS, including
checking that for federal verification. The department will also remind training
staff to ensure the importance of obtaining social security numbers is highlighted
in the training received by new employees.’ “