5 days ago
Cambria prison officials catch inmate medication billing mistakes
EBENSBURG, Pa. – Cambria County Prison officials discovered that county taxpayers have been mistakenly billed in excess by the prison's contracted medical care provider for some inmate opioid addiction medications.
Assistant Deputy Warden Megan Bursky reviewed invoices from the prison's contracted medical service provider, PrimeCare Medical, and found the prison had been overbilled for methadone treatment by roughly $10,000 since February.
Bursky gave a report Wednesday to the county's prison board at the Cambria County Courthouse.
She said the prison had changed its contract with PrimeCare to achieve savings through having prison personnel pick up the methadone treatments rather than having them delivered.
However, due to a communication lapse between new and former PrimeCare administrators, she said, the methadone price was not dropped to reflect the new contract.
In addition, she found that, since October, the prison has been double billed for inmates' Subutex medications.
That medication should have been billed only to the prison's Medical Assisted Treatment program account, which is funded with monies from national opioid settlements.
However, the same Subutex charges were included in bills for the prison's general medications, she said.
The amount billed in excess for Subutex has not been tallied, but Bursky estimates it to be 'significant.'
Bursky said she brought the issues to PrimeCare, which recognized the mistakes and is correcting the problem. She attributed the mistakes to a communication lapse resulting from administrative turnover at PrimeCare.
A call to PrimeCare was not returned Wednesday.
Cambria County Prison Board member and county Controller Ed Cernic said the prison has experienced similar billing issues with PrimeCare over the past few years.
The prison pays more than $3 million a year for inmate medications and services, he said.
The prison board has looked for other medical service providers in the past, but there are not many providers aside from PrimeCare, Cernic said.
Cambria County Prison Warden Kurt Wolford said his administration is looking to improve cost efficiency of programs throughout the prison and improve every facet of the facility.
'We are moving in a direction that is more fiscally responsible to the county – and safer – not only for officers but inmates as well,' he said.
A major focus since Wolford's entry to the warden's office in April has been the development of a re-entry program for inmates to society. The planned program, including the future hire of a re-entry specialist at the prison, is funded by a state grant obtained in partnership with other county departments.
The role of a re-entry specialist would include addressing substance abuse disorders, as well as connecting inmates to medical services and housing in advance of their release from prison so that their transition back to society is smoother.
'There are two ways to look at the prison from the public perspective,' Wolford said. 'Half of people think we shouldn't give inmates anything, but others, including myself, see our jobs as a way to help fix problems while people are in here, so when they come out, they are more active citizens. It makes the community safer.'
Russ O'Reilly is a reporter for The Tribune-Democrat. Follow him on Twitter @RussellOReilly.
