Cattaraugus County steps up efforts to collect unpaid bills
LITTLE VALLEY — New procedures are being developed to improve collections of hundreds of thousands of dollars in outstanding bills for the Health and Community Services departments, Cattaraugus County officials announced Monday.
County Administrator Jack Searles said the county has lost more than $600,000 in uncollectible write-offs this year.
New software in both departments and minor errors in billing led insurers to reject claims, he noted.
The departments, he added, also lacked a centralized billing staff.
The departments have been reorganized, with a single supervisor for centralized billing and collections.
New procedures also will maximize collections before deadlines expire for Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements.
County Legislature Chairwoman Crystal Abers, R-South Dayton; Finance Committee Chairman Mike O’Brien, RPortville; and Assistant Administrator Jeff VanDeCarr joined Searles in making the announcement.
“It is what it is,” Searles said, adding that the county has acted in a transparent way to come up with a plan to deal with the problem.
Searles presented a final report of the uncollected bills, plus policies and procedures that the accounting firm of Mc- Carthy & Conlon recently submitted to the Legislature for both departments.
Toski Shafer, the county’s auditing firm, has yet to fully review and adjust the report, but it pinpoints general lack of follow- up in collections.
County legislators met in a special session later Monday to approve 3 percent raises contained in four-year contracts and pay adjustments for more than 900 part-and full-time county employees.
The lawmakers unanimously approved several resolutions, sealing pay increases totaling $600,000.
The vote followed last Thursday’s contract ratification by Local 1000, Civil Service Employees Association.
According to David Moshier, director of human services, and Jeff Swiatek of Hodgson Russ, the chief negotiator, the Legislature’s vote ends 14 months of talks.
Moshier said workers made an important concession by agreeding to pay a larger share of health insurance premiums and higher co-pays for medical services, as well as larger shares of prescription and medical provider costs.
After the vote, Legislator William J. Aiello, R-Olean, a member of the Labor Relations Committee, thanked the negotiating teams and described the terms as “fair and equitable for all parties.”
The Legislature’s action also affects various non-union groups: nonsalaried managerial and confidential employees, salaried part-time workers, seasonal workers, and employees of the nursing homes who work on a substitute, part-time and temporary basis, as well as those in 14 part-time positions.
Negotiators now will focus on contracts for about 120 workers in three units in the Sheriff’s Office and a supervisory unit contract that will expire next Wednesday.
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