New bill payment system for N.D. Medicaid delayed

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A new computer system for paying North Dakota's Medicaid bills is delayed again.

The project is being developed by Affiliated Computer Services of Dallas. It was supposed to be finished by May.

ACS executive Mark Boxer told legislators Tuesday the new completion date is April 2011.

Boxer says he's sorry about the problems and he says the company will work to remedy them.

The Legislature approved the project in 2005. Since then, its budget has ballooned from $29 million to $62 million.

When the Department of Human Services began planning the project, officials expected it would be operating by 2007.

Medicaid is a medical insurance program for the poor. The system will handle bills for services for Medicaid clients. The problems with the new computer system have delayed payments to doctors, dentists and other medical professionals who serve Medicaid clients.

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