Medicaid claims malfunction could cost Idaho

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho’s new, problem-plagued Medicaid claims processing system may cost taxpayers millions of dollars, according to a report released Tuesday by legislative auditors who concluded that neither Idaho health officials, the software company nor Medicaid providers were adequately prepared for the switch last year.

After California-based Molina Medicaid Solutions took over the $106 million contract in May 2010, problems handling Idaho’s roughly $1.4 billion in annual Medicaid claims emerged almost immediately. That delayed thousands of payments to private providers who rely on the payments to provide services to the poor and disabled.