Listen to this Story
The best way to experience what someone else is going through is to step into their shoes, so to speak. (That’s certainly one way to become more empathetic.) An article published by The Wichita Eagle tells about a woman who supposedly provided in-home care for low-income and disabled patients, but lied about the number of patients she was actually caring for in order to bilk the Kansas Medicaid program out of more than $40,000.
The story states that over a period of almost four-and-a-half years, the woman claimed she was a care attendant for three patients – all at the same time. (Obviously, her bills didn’t quite add up because it’s pretty difficult to be in three places at once.)
The 59-year-old pleaded no contest to one count of making false claims to Medicaid for billing the program for work she did not do. She was convicted of Medicaid fraud and was ordered to serve two years of probation and repay the Kansas Medicaid program $41,386. (If she violates the terms of her probation, she could be required to serve up to one-and-a-half years in prison.) In addition, she is not allowed to work for any government program funded by federal health care dollars. (That was definitely a good move by the judge.)
The judge also ordered the former caretaker to find a job so she could start paying back the restitution unless she was disabled due to her current battle with cancer.
This case is the sixth to be closed under an initiative called “Operation No Show,” which is part of an effort to crack down on Medicaid billing fraud. In total, the joint initiative between the Kansas Attorney General’s Office and the Department of Health and Human Services, has ordered more than $308,000 in total restitution to be paid to the state Medicaid program.
While this woman may have been an empathetic person in the beginning, it appears she didn’t think too much about how her deceptive acts might impact those who truly deserve to receive in-home care through Medicaid benefits. Now that she is facing a long-term illness herself, it seems she may truly discover what it’s like to wear the shoe on the other foot in the near future. Let’s hope the experience makes her more empathetic and responsible as a result.
The post When the Shoe is on the Other Foot appeared first on Fraud of the Day.