Citrus Memorial Hospital is challenging an effort by the state Agency for Health Care Administration to recoup what the agency alleges were nearly $5.9 million in Medicaid overpayments during a 10-year period.
The challenge was posted Thursday on the state Division of Administrative Hearings website and includes Citrus Memorial seeking to halt the agency from recouping money while the legal dispute moves forward.
The challenge said AHCA decided to recoup the money after performing an audit that determined the Inverness hospital’s Medicaid rates required a “retroactive adjustment” of $5.89 million for a period from 2006 to 2016.
The hospital property is owned by the Citrus County Hospital Board, an independent taxing district, with the facility operated for much of the 10-year period by the Citrus Memorial Health Foundation, the challenge said.
Citrus Memorial Hospital, Inc., which is part of the HCA health-care company, began operating the hospital in November 2014.
Because of that situation, the challenge said that recouping “$5,890,000 from the hospital would essentially be to recoup $5,890,000 from the taxpayers of Citrus County.”
