Chris Koster
By Johnny Kampis | Missouri Watchdog
ST. LOUIS — A Missouri health services provider will pay more than $124,000 in fines and restitution for submitting false claims to Medicaid.
Attorney General Chris Koster announced Thursday that he reached a settlement with Reliable Home Health Services of Overland after his Medicaid fraud control unit found owner Sharon Smith employed attendants but failed to provide services to Medicaid recipients as claimed.
Smith and her company will pay $46,596.95 in restitution, and $72,567.80 to the Missouri HealthNet Fraud Reimbursement Fund. Another $5,000 will go to the Missouri HealthNet Fraud Prosecution Revolving Fund to pay for the cost of the investigation.
As part of the deal, Smith will implement a corrective plan to ensure services billed to Medicaid are actually provided, with the AG’s office keeping watch.
“We will continue to search for individuals who defraud the Medicaid system and we will recover public money stolen from our health care system,” Koster said in a statement.
His office offers a Medicaid fraud hotline at 800-286-3932. Complaints can also be registered at Koster’s Medicaid fraud website.
