Medi-Cal’s Paperwork Has Discovered Faster-Than-Traffic Travel

One vehicle. One day. More than 3,000 miles, before counting most of the passengers.

That is the itinerary California’s state auditor calculated from one Medi-Cal transportation provider’s claims, according to CalMatters. Nine of 35 claimed passenger trips would account for that distance alone. Somewhere between the road and the reimbursement system, the vehicle appears to have acquired capabilities unavailable at the dealership.

The department disputes the audit, arguing that it omits context and elevates isolated examples over effective system-wide controls. The claims are not criminal convictions. But the arithmetic is an unusually demanding request for context. Perhaps the missing information is which portion of the trip occurred outside ordinary time.

The auditor also found two providers billing almost $1.6 million after they had been deemed ineligible, and said investigations had not begun into 26,000 of the 28,000 providers classified at highest risk. High risk does not establish guilt; it is supposed to establish somewhere worth looking.

Patients need the rides. Taxpayers need the checking. The paperwork, meanwhile, has apparently already reached the other coast and is heading back for another fare.