Why your state has a vault full of money
that includes your practice's uncashed checks
When payment is made for services rendered by way of a check, there’s always the possibility that check will fail to make its way to the intended recipient. This could be for a variety of reasons: an incorrect address, getting lost in the mail, or perhaps bring deposited into an incorrect account by your financial institution.
Regardless of root cause, escheat laws require the sender to turn these unclaimed funds over to their state’s treasury department annually, which then sits hidden away in a vault, until someone claims it.
Surprisingly, few medical practices or facilities ever review their state’s Unclaimed Property websites to see what’s out there. This is an exercise that should be performed at least quarterly, by someone with fiscal responsibility within your organization (Accountant, Controller, or CFO). The state Unclaimed Property websites are not limited to companies – you can enter individual names as well. Perhaps you or your family members have unclaimed funds that you weren’t aware of.
As I began researching this topic, I noticed that most of the Unclaimed Property websites
were linked to the respective state’s treasury department site. Although you can find them by searching, I thought that there must be someone who has consolidated all the states Unclaimed Property websites into an easy-to-use tool. Eventually, I stumbled upon the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA).
NAUPA is a network of the National Association of State Treasurers, and represents all 50 states. After clicking on the homepage and scrolling down a bit, you’ll see a map of the United States.
Once you click on your state, you’ll be hyperlinked to their Unclaimed Property website. It’s free to perform searches and make claims, so why not take a few minutes to review your practice and see what’s waiting to be claimed? In the end, it should prove to be a worthy endeavor.
Hal has 30+ years of experience on both the payor and RCM side, with a focus in Anesthesia. He formerly worked as a senior claims approver at United Healthcare, as well as a compliance officer for multiple national anesthesia billing companies. His broad-based experience ensures that MSN clients have a resource for documentation and billing issues. His past speaking engagements include ASA, MGMA, Dartmouth, and Johns Hopkins.
