DeFoor releases Tobacco Settlement Fund audits
HARRISBURG — Auditor General Timothy L. DeFoor announced the release of tobacco settlement fund audits for 31 healthcare facilities, including Bradford Regional Medical Center.
“Our audits ensure hospitals have documentation to support the receipt of tobacco settlement funds before receiving reimbursement for uncompensated care,” Auditor General DeFoor said.
Reached in 1998, the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement settled state lawsuits brought against tobacco companies to recover costs associated with treating smoking-related illnesses. Pennsylvania’s Tobacco Settlement Act (Act 77 of 2001) allocated some of the billions of dollars in settlement funds to reimburse hospitals for providing care to uninsured patients.
For BRMC, the auditors used data submitted to the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council to determine that for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024, BRMC did not have any potentially eligible extraordinary expense claims. The audit also determined BRMC’s total inpatient days, total Medical Assistance days and total HMO days by company.
The total for inpatient days was 5,661; Medicare fee-for-service days, 16; HMO days — Amerihealth Caritus, 21; UPMC for You, 56; Community Care Behavioral, 701; Aetna Better Health, 3 and Amerihealth Com Health Choice MA, 4.
The Department of Human Services will determine if BRMC is eligible for funds from the tobacco settlement. The audit can be found on the auditor’s website.