Published: September 2, 2026
Publisher: The Maine Mirror
The Maine Mirror Accountability Series — Article 6 of 7

🪞 THE MIRROR BRIEF

The federal audit was not the end of the process. Primary-source records obtained by The Maine Mirror show CMS identified four audit findings requiring corrective-action updates from Maine, formally sought information aimed at resolving and closing the findings, and gave the state 30 days to respond. CMS also warned that an outstanding refund not received within applicable federal time limits could lead to a federal disallowance. One month later, Maine Medicaid Director Michelle Probert transmitted the state’s corrective-action plan to federal officials.

For the first five articles of this series, The Maine Mirror has examined what federal auditors found inside Maine’s Medicaid-funded rehabilitative and community support services for children with autism.

At least $45.6 million in estimated improper payments.

Another approximately $22.4 million in potentially improper payments.

Concerns involving cloned or otherwise unreliable session notes.

A finding that Maine did not provide effective oversight.

And a statewide post-payment review that federal auditors said had not occurred since the RCS program began in 2010.

But the audit was not the end of the story.

The primary-source records show what happened next: CMS formally moved to address the findings, established a response deadline, and warned Maine of a potential federal consequence if an outstanding refund was not received within applicable time limits.

Then Maine responded.

CMS Identified Four Findings Requiring Corrective Action

On February 3, 2026, Sharla Broughton of CMS’s Audit and Review Branch emailed Maine Medicaid Director Michelle Probert.

The message referenced OIG Audit A-01-24-00006 and the audit concerning at least $45.6 million in improper fee-for-service Medicaid payments for RCS services provided to children diagnosed with autism.

CMS then told Maine what its initial review had identified:

“4 audit findings that will require corrective action updates by the State of Maine to resolve and close the audit findings.”

CMS instructed Maine to begin reviewing the findings and prepare updates concerning corrective actions that could help resolve and close them.

Then came a deadline:

“Please respond within 30 days of this e-mail, whether or not there are any updates.”

(A February 3, 2026 email from CMS Audit and Review Branch official Sharla Broughton to Maine Medicaid Director Michelle Probert states that CMS’s initial review identified four audit findings requiring corrective-action updates from Maine “to resolve and close the audit findings.” CMS directed Maine to begin reviewing the findings and respond within 30 days, whether or not there were updates. Source: Record obtained from Maine DHHS through a Freedom of Access Act request.)

The significance is straightforward.

The January OIG audit did not simply publish findings and end there.

Federal records show a follow-up process aimed at getting those findings addressed and ultimately closed.

The Formal Federal Request

The email was accompanied by something more formal.

A February 2, 2026 Request for Information, addressed directly to Probert, laid out CMS’s position in writing.

CMS said it had reviewed the OIG audit issued January 16 and that the letter served as its RFI concerning the findings and recommendations identified in the report.

Importantly, CMS explained what the request was based on:

Its review of Maine’s responses to the audit and the corrective-action plans contained in the audit report.

CMS then described its objective:

“to have all instances of noncompliance closed as soon as possible in order to avoid any adverse audit opinions in future audits.”

The agency said it would be “actively working with the state to reach that goal.”

(CMS’s February 2, 2026 formal Request for Information to Maine Medicaid Director Michelle Probert concerning OIG Audit A-01-24-00006. CMS states that the request was based on its review of Maine’s audit responses and corrective-action plans and says its objective was to have “all instances of noncompliance closed as soon as possible,” with CMS actively working with Maine toward that goal. Source: Record obtained from Maine DHHS through a Freedom of Access Act request.)

That language provides important context for the corrective-action plans examined throughout this series.

Those plans were not simply Maine’s internal response to negative audit findings.

They became part of an ongoing process between Maine and the federal agency responsible for administering Medicaid at the national level.

CMS Warned of a Possible Disallowance

The formal RFI addressed more than corrective-action updates.

It also discussed the potential recovery of federal money.

As examined earlier in this series, OIG recommended that Maine refund approximately $28.8 million in federal funds associated with payments that did not comply with federal and state requirements.

Maine partially agreed with that finding and committed to conducting its own reviews to determine which overpayments would ultimately be confirmed.

CMS’s February letter explained what could happen if an outstanding refund were not received within the applicable federal time limits.

The agency wrote:

“we may then initiate a disallowance to obtain the recommended refund amount.”

CMS also explained that Maine would have the opportunity to seek reconsideration or appeal a disallowance to the Departmental Appeals Board.

Then CMS reiterated the deadline:

“Please provide the requested information from Attachment A within 30 days of receiving this letter.”

(The second page of CMS’s February 2, 2026 Request for Information states that if an outstanding refund is not received within applicable federal time limits, CMS “may then initiate a disallowance to obtain the recommended refund amount.” The letter explains Maine’s reconsideration and appeal rights and directs the state to provide the requested information within 30 days. The letter is signed by CMS Deputy Director Jennifer Clark. Source: Record obtained from Maine DHHS through a Freedom of Access Act request.)

The wording requires an important distinction.

The document does not establish that CMS actually initiated a disallowance against Maine.

It says CMS may initiate one if an outstanding refund is not received within the applicable time limits.

Likewise, the document does not establish that Maine presently owes the entire $28.8 million recommended by OIG.

As previously reported, Maine disputed aspects of that calculation and committed to reviewing the underlying providers and claims.

But the federal correspondence does establish that the refund question carried a potential enforcement mechanism beyond the original audit recommendation.

Maine Responded

On March 4, 2026, Maine sent its response.

At 4:54 p.m., Probert emailed Broughton at CMS.

Her message was brief:

“Attached, please find the State of Maine’s corrective action plan and accompanying cover letter, addressed to Deputy Director Jennifer Clark, in regards to OIG audit #A-01-24-00006.”

Probert explained that Maine did not have Clark’s email address to send the material to her directly and asked Broughton to let her know if there were questions.

(A March 4, 2026 email from Maine Medicaid Director Michelle Probert to CMS official Sharla Broughton transmitting “the State of Maine’s corrective action plan and accompanying cover letter” concerning OIG Audit A-01-24-00006. Probert explains that Maine did not have Deputy Director Jennifer Clark’s email address to send the response directly. Source: Record obtained from Maine DHHS through a Freedom of Access Act request.)

That email closes the immediate documentary timeline captured in these records:

February 2: CMS formally issues its Request for Information.

February 3: CMS tells Maine that four audit findings require corrective-action updates and requests a response within 30 days.

March 4: Maine transmits its corrective-action plan and accompanying cover letter to CMS.

The documents therefore allow the public to see not just the audit findings, but the accountability process that followed them.

From Audit Findings to Federal Follow-Through

That distinction matters.

An audit can identify a problem.

A corrective-action process is supposed to determine what happens next.

Across the previous articles, Maine’s commitments have included reviewing providers and medical records, issuing Notices of Violation and Notices of Debt where warranted, recovering confirmed overpayments, refunding the federal share of confirmed improper payments, replacing rules the state described as outdated and ambiguous, expanding provider training and beginning annual post-payment reviews.

Article 6 adds the federal side of that equation.

CMS was asking Maine for updates.

CMS wanted the findings resolved and closed.

CMS established a 30-day response period.

And CMS explicitly identified potential disallowance as a mechanism available if an outstanding refund was not received within applicable federal time limits.

Maine, in turn, submitted its corrective-action response.

The accountability question therefore changes again.

It is no longer simply:

What did auditors find?

It becomes:

Did Maine do what it told the federal government it would do?

The Deadlines Are Now the Story

That question is especially important because Maine’s corrective-action plans contained specific dates.

As this series has documented, some projected completion dates have already passed.

Others extend into September and October 2026.

And Maine’s plan for post-payment reviews of Section 28 providers extends through 2029.

Those dates create measurable commitments.

Did provider reviews happen when promised?

Were Notices of Violation or Notices of Debt issued where warranted?

Were confirmed overpayments recovered?

Was federal money repaid?

Were the rules replaced?

Did provider guidance and training occur?

And, ultimately, does CMS consider each of the four findings resolved and closed?

Those are no longer abstract questions.

The primary-source records provide benchmarks against which Maine’s response can be measured.

The Audit Created a Paper Trail

Six articles into this series, the documentary record now tells a broader story.

Federal auditors identified tens of millions of dollars in improper and potentially improper Medicaid payments involving services for children with autism.

They identified unreliable documentation.

They found ineffective oversight.

They found that Maine had not conducted a statewide post-payment review since the program began in 2010.

Maine agreed with some findings and partially agreed with another.

It developed corrective-action plans stretching from immediate changes into 2029.

And now the records show CMS itself stepping into the follow-up process, identifying four findings requiring corrective-action updates, establishing a response deadline and raising the possibility of federal disallowance under specified circumstances.

Maine responded by submitting its corrective-action plan.

That brings this series to its final question.

The audit tells us what went wrong.

The corrective-action plans tell us what Maine promised to do about it.

The federal correspondence tells us CMS expected those problems to be addressed.

But what did Maine’s own senior leadership know about the scope of this problem—and what records exist showing how it was handled at the highest levels of DHHS?

Next: Article 7 of 7

The final installment of The Maine Mirror Accountability Series will turn from the federal-state exchange to the internal accountability question.

After following the money, the audit findings, the oversight failures, Maine’s corrective-action commitments and CMS’s response, Article 7 will examine what the records obtained through Maine’s Freedom of Access Act reveal—or do not reveal—about how the matter moved through Maine DHHS leadership.

Transparency Note

The Maine Mirror uses artificial intelligence as an editorial-assistance tool in researching, organizing and drafting coverage. Reporting decisions, source review, verification and publication decisions remain the responsibility of The Maine Mirror.

The primary-source documents reproduced in this article were obtained directly from the Maine Department of Health and Human Services through a Freedom of Access Act request. AI-generated material is not used as primary-source evidence.

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This reporting began with a $45.6 million audit. Six articles later, the public record shows a much larger story about oversight, accountability and what happened after federal auditors arrived.

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