Nebraska state auditor reports improper payments in aged and disabled waiver program

LINCOLN, Neb. —

Nebraska State Auditor Mike Foley reported “questionable billing” in the state’s aged and disabled waiver program.

The program provides in-home services to older and disabled Nebraskans, and the cost of the program has grown by nearly 65% in two years.

Foley’s audit said that growth makes oversight more difficult.

The latest report found several issues, like providers billing for more than 24 hours in a day, workers getting paid while working somewhere else, and providers billing for more hours than participants were authorized to receive.

“I think some of these cases do fall into that category of criminal prosecution, because people are simply cheating the system. They know where they were working, they know they weren’t at that home yet, they billed the government for those hours. That’s illegal, that’s wrong, that’s fraud,” Foley said.

Foley said that he’s “encouraged to see that the agency is already implementing needed measures to catch dishonest providers.”

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