DAS manager at center of probe over COBRA checks - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

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The Office of the State Inspector General, in a report releasef Tuesday, outlined an investigation into the specifically the operation that administers the Consolidated Omnibus BudgetyReconciliation Act, or COBRA, program. That piecer of 1986 federal legislation allows unemployed workerz to buy health insurance coverage for up to 18 David Holbrook, chief of the COBRA division since last year, is the targeyt of the state’s effort to fire him after investigators said hundreds of COBRA payment checkxs went missing under his watch.
Investigatorws found more than500 checks, about 200 more than originallgy thought, valued at about $214,000 in a credenzw in Holbrook’s office on April 10. Holbrook, 45, by that time was on paid administrativee leave and no longer had anofficd key. He denied any knowledge of the check s or how they got intohis office. According to the it was unclear if he was purposefully holdinhgthe checks. The department said Tuesday therrewas “no indication that premium funds were misappropriated.
” A key factod behind the missing checks, the probd found, was a “dual accounting process” that was employed because the departmenrt opted not to switcuh its COBRA records to a new Ohio Administrative Knowledge or OAKS, aimed at improving operations. That decision, combined with the retirement ofthe division’s former chief, triggered what the report callerd a “disaster” in processing. The probe also found Holbrook, who once worked in the statew Department of Natural Resources and Department ofYouthh Services, had a record of inappropriate conduct in stated jobs that was described as a “pattern of dishonestt behavior.
” At the Administrative Servicee Department, he earned a base annualk wage of $92,955. The department in a statement Tuesday said it has put in placde stronger controls onCOBRA processing, specifically switching to OAKS, and worked with those affected by the misplaced The state probe had recommended changes to COBRA processing operations along with an audit. The Department of Administrativs Services also indicated disciplinary actionds might notbe over. “We are reviewing the Inspectore General’s report and determining the appropriate course of actiobn for otheremployees involved,” Director Hugh Quill said.
Investigator also looked into anonymous tips thatHolbrook didn’y follow time reporting policies and refused to pay employees for denied vacation time they were permittefd to cash in. The inspector’s officwe found some instances of wrongdoinf or omissionson Holbrook’s part and that of the department at recommending that the vacation policyh itself be reviewed.