Tennessee taxpayers lost more than $3 million after a corporate-run nursing facility billed the state that much money for expenses not covered under Medicaid. This, according to a new audit Tennessee Comptrollers released this week. That corporation, AltaCare, is based out of Alpharetta, Georgia, according to Comptrollers. “The audit found that AltaCare included $3,224,767.49 of nonallowable home office expenses on the cost reports it submitted to the State of Tennessee,” Comptrollers wrote. “Cost reports are used to calculate a nursing facility’s Medicaid reimbursement rate and should only include expenses that are reasonable, allowable, and in accordance with state and federal rules, regulations, and reimbursement principles. Auditors determined that AltaCare’s home office cost reports submitted in 2014, 2015, and 2016 each contained nonallowable amounts. These included legal expenses, unsupported expenses, late fees, penalties, expenses not related to AltaCare, and donations.” Auditors also found that certain personal expenses of AltaCare’s director, Doug Mittleider, were also included on the 2015 cost report. These included expenses for his wife’s flight from Sanborn, New York to France, church donations, a veterinarian expense, a guitar center purchase, and other unspecified personal expenses, according to Comptrollers. “Because the home office cost reports include amounts allocated to…
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