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NEW YORK, NY December 18, 2007 —Some psychiatrists and other medical providers overcharged New York by more than $1.3 million for treatments. That's according to a new audit.

New York Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says in one case he found a psychiatrist repeatedly billed Medicaid for more than 24 hours of treatment in a single day and also appears to have charged the government healthcare program for treatment he never provided.

According to DiNapoli, those charges cost taxpayers $436,000. The audit says the state could have avoided the overpayments with additional fiscal controls in the claims process. The payments were made from August 1999 through October 2006. The Health Department reports it has already made changes as a result of the audit. For WNYC, I’m Marc Garber.