Audit of Iowa Veterans Home shows former Commandant was overpaid $105,413

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) - In conducting a special investigation related to Iowa Veterans Home (IVH), the Office of Auditor of State found that the IVH did not have adequate policies and procedures in place to ensure all payroll expenditures were accurate, causing improper payroll amounts paid to the IVH former Commandant.

The special investigation found that improper payroll amounts were issued for the May 4th, 2019 through May 5th, 2021 period. The report identified an incorrect payroll of $105,413 was paid to the IVH former Commandant between June 2019 and April 2021.

Costs associated with the payroll to the former Commandant would have been included in the cost reports submitted which would have been subsequently used to set the Medicaid rate the Iowa Veterans Home would have received during the time.

When personnel at the Iowa Veterans Home recalculated what the correct costs and reimbursement rate for the December 2019 costs were, it resulted in a decrease in the calculated reimbursement rate of $0.32 per day per unit of service.

The decreases in the reimbursement rates when applied to covered days billed by Iowa Veterans Home to Medicaid for March 2020-June 2020 resulted in overpayments of $ 10,810 to IVH.

The Office of Auditor of State is recommending IVH officials implement procedures to ensure payroll journals are reviewed by someone independent of processing payroll, and that they consult with State and Federal officials to determine the corrective action to be taken.