Three former owners of a Virginia-based home health company pleaded guilty for their roles in a scheme to submit false claims to Medicaid for services that were not provided.
What happened?
- 1st Adult Pediatric Healthcare Services is a Medicaid-enrolled home health agency providing private duty nursing, personal care and respite care services throughout Virginia, according to a Sept. 8 Justice Department news release.
- The company was owned and operated by Josephine Okocha, 49, and Samuel Okocha, 52, both of Upper Marlboro, Md., and Carolyn Bryant-Taylor, 61, of Clinton, Md.
- The Justice Department said the trio conspired to submit false claims to Medicaid for services that were not provided, including falsifying records and documentation in support of the fraudulent claims submitted for reimbursement.
- As part of the scheme, between 2017 and 2023, Ms. Bryant-Taylor and Ms. Okocha arranged to pay the parents or guardians of patients in exchange for blank, signed nursing notes that would be filled out and used to support billing to Medicaid. In these arrangements, the amount billed to Medicaid either reflected services that were not provided or exceeded the nursing services provided.
- Three others have charges pending for their alleged roles in the scheme.
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