Nearly $200,000
in federal AIDS funds granted to the Florida Agency for
Health Care Administration were diverted to pay for autism
treatments for the adopted child of a
"politically connected" Broward County, Fla.,
couple, according to reports in the Miami Herald.
The unnamed
couple in 1999 threatened to sue the state or give back
their adopted child when Florida officials refused to
pay for extensive autism treatments, according to a
review by the administration's inspector
general. Medicaid Bureau chief Shelly Brantley and possibly
others in the bureau in 1999 reportedly "went
shopping" through the administration's
various health programs to obtain the money for the
child's treatment and later that year began
diverting about $40,000 per year from the state's
Project AIDS Care program. The 200-page inspector
general's report says that at least two
prominent health officials told investigators that
Brantley, and possibly others in the administration,
directly approved the diversion of the funds.
The investigation
was prompted after a retired administration program
analyst filed a complaint with the inspector general
alleging that the diversion of funds violated state
and federal laws. He told investigators that when he
approached Brantley with reservations about taking the money
from Project AIDS Care, Brantley told him, "Find a
way to pay for it. Do what you're told to
do," the Herald reports.
Administration
spokesman Jonathan Burns says there are no plans to
reimburse Project AIDS Care for the $200,000 diverted from
it. Burns also would not comment on whether the
autistic child's treatments were still being
paid for with money from the AIDS program, citing federal
privacy laws that prevented him from commenting on the
issue. Another agency spokesperson said no
disciplinary action has been taken against any agency
employees.
Brantley and the
mother of the adopted autistic child declined to comment
on the report. (Advocate.com)
