Home Health & Hospice Week

Maybe hiring an alleged quadruple murderer was a bad idea.

If you think previous enforcement actions are keeping fraudsters out of the home health business, you may want to think again.

Case in point: Sharon Romaine Ward, owner of Halo Home Healthcare in Cincinnati, has pleaded guilty in Ohio federal court to fraudulently billing more than $8.5 million to Medicare, Medicaid, and Veterans Affairs for home health services between 2015 and 2021, the Department of Justice says.

Ward admitted that when she started Halo, she concealed her ownership because she had a prior felony conviction in 2013

for passing forged and fraudulent prescriptions for oxycodone and hydrocodone while serving as a nurse practitioner. The conviction made her ineligible to participate in federal health care programs for 10 years, the DOJ notes in a release.

Halo billed for services not provided and hired over 50 employees with significant criminal histories which should have excluded them from providing home health services, the DOJ says. That includes one individual who was charged with a quadruple murder while working for Halo.

Ward also admitted to tax fraud, the DOJ adds.

Another case in point: In Minnesota, authorities have charged Abdiweli Mohamud, owner of Minnesota Home Health Care, with Medicaid fraud, according to Attorney General Keith Ellison.

Mohamud is accused of ceding operational control of his business to Abdirashid Said, who is excluded from federal healthcare programs following an earlier home care fraud case. Agencies controlled by Said billed for services never rendered, created fake documentation for patients, and failed to properly supervise staff, among other crimes, the state says.