My Story - an Overview

It is difficult to arrive at the truth about a situation when no one admits that the situation exists; therefore, this entry will be the complete truth - as I know it it to be - regarding the events that occurred beginning on November 2, 2002 regarding the Arizona Medicaid accounts receivable funding. I have written many letters and placed many calls to obtain another version of "the TRUTH;" these letters have been sent to and calls made to AHCCCS (Arizona's version of Medicaid), newspapers, congressmen and congresswomen, state senators, the NAACP, the Rainbow Coalition, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and Oprah, just to name a few. Six weeks ago, I sent a letter to the Medicaid Department of Program Integrity. I did not receive a response. They mistakenly believe that I will go away and forget this. I will not.

I post here the letter sent to Medicaid:



November 13, 2007


Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
7500 Security Boulevard
Baltimore, MD. 21244-1850
Attn: Mr. David Frank, Director, Medicaid Integrity Group

Dear Mr. Frank,

I have a vested interest in your response to this letter, having had my business, and all I hold dear, lost in the shroud of secrecy surrounding the events of the NCFE bankruptcy and the state of Arizona’s losses totaling 131 million dollars in 2002 – 2003.

When this atrocity happened, AHCCCS, the Arizona distributor of Medicaid funding, was “unavailable” to us. When they became available, they were untruthful; not one word was uttered in apology or reasonable explanation to the people whose very existence was decimated by this loss. No mention of the NCFE bankruptcy, no mention of any investment of any kind, no truthful answers at all. They (AHCCCS and Cochise County) avoided the questions that they could, and flat-out lied in regard to the questions which they had to answer.

State officials were untruthful on every level; I received a letter from Senator John McCain stating that he “could not get involved in affairs of the county” (it was not just Cochise County. The entire state was involved.), and besides, “he knew nothing of the matter.” A lot of digging turned up that John McCain was very involved when the Doctor’s Hospital in Washington, D.C., lost terribly due to its ownership by Doctor’s Hospital in Phoenix.

Small business owners in the ALTECs TITLE 19 delivery system were destroyed by the bad judgment of the state, and then made to suffer the humiliation of being lied to. The elderly and disabled were hurt terribly by the cutting of services, and they shadow box for their services because they don’t know what happened.

I, and, by now, many other citizens of the state of Arizona in this United States of America, have many questions regarding the events surrounding this unprecedented loss of Medicaid funding, and questions and concerns regarding any possible safeguards which may have been put in place on a federal level to prevent another occurrence of this magnitude. Our questions are as follow:

I Amounts of Losses

1. Of the overall loss of monies involving Medicaid accounts receivable, school funding and money designated for other entities which was invested by the state of Arizona, what was the amount of Medicaid funds lost by the state?

2. Of the overall loss of monies by Cochise County in particular, what was the dollar-amount loss of Medicaid funds?



II LGIPs (Local Government Investment Pools)

We, the citizens of Arizona, have many questions regarding the legality of our local and state governments making investments of public monies without the vote of the people.
However, we realize that these are concerns which must be answered to by the state and local governments, themselves.

We, do, however, ask you these questions regarding any role that you (your office as represented by Medicaid funds) may have in the LGIPs:

How many years has the state invested Medicaid funds into LGIPs?

How many Medicaid receivables backed investments were made by state and
Local Arizona government prior to November 2, 2002?

Is it still legal to invest Medicaid funds through the LGIPs? Or, will this practice
not be allowed again considering the catastrophe in Arizona?

What safeguards have been put in place by your office to assure us that this
most terrible scenario involving funds earmarked for our elderly and disabled
will never happen again?

Because the state and local governments invested Medicaid accounts receivable,
What were your guidelines as to profits made on these investments?

Did investment (of Medicaid accounts receivable) profits before November 2,
2002 go directly into the state Medicaid Program to enhance services for the
elderly and disabled?

When there was profit, did the elderly on the ALTEC (Medicaid Title 19
Program) receive more services from profits earned?

Or, did any profits simply return to the county coffers; and, did you have any
input regarding the use of the profit?

If profits simply returned to the investor (county and/or state), how were these
funds used?

Do profits earned on Medicaid monies remain “Medicaid monies?”

Who is ultimately responsible for the suppression of information regarding
this enormous loss to the state of Arizona?

Who is ultimately responsible for the contractual losses by small businesses
who lost everything during this financial crisis; and, who, because of the suppression of information, had no legal recourse?

Who is ultimately responsible for the very real losses in services suffered by
ALTECs members during and after this crisis; and, who, because of the suppression of information, had no legal recourse?

The suppression of information regarding this matter has been dealt with, by every public official on all levels of government, by evasion or flat-out lying; officials from the county, state, and even the federal government have given not one truthful answer.

Where does accountability lie? Accountability not only for the covert investment of designated funds and ultimately the loss of those funds, but for keeping the entire matter a secret from the taxpayers and citizens of this state.

It is time for the truth. We believe that the office of Medicaid Program Integrity is the best place to start in our efforts to obtain the truth.

Please reply within ten days.

Thank you for your efforts.

Sincerely,


Mary A. Wilson

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