BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - A state senator says Louisiana's health department should press harder to correct problems found by auditors who say the agency does a poor job overseeing billions in Medicaid payments.

Senate health committee chairman Fred Mills, a St. Martin Parish Republican, was dissatisfied with the department response to the audit. He wrote Health Secretary Rebekah Gee seeking more details about how her agency will correct shortcomings identified by the legislative auditor's office.

The audit says the department isn't properly tracking health providers billing Medicaid managed care organizations for services. The report says that makes it impossible to know if Medicaid is paying for things it shouldn't be. Gee replied Thursday her agency is working on system upgrades and has increased penalties for managed care companies that don't have accurate provider information.