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Home Health & Hospice Week

Industry Note:

NC Agency Owner Faces Fraud Charges

Published on Thu May 10, 2012

A North Carolina home health agency owner has pled guilty to Medicaid fraud. Prose-cutors charged Betty Ann Cook, owner of Families First Home Health Care in Sparta, N.C., with health care fraud and money laundering. Cook submitted Medicaid claims for services that weren't provided, not authorized by a physician, or not based on a valid assessment, prosecutors alleged. And Cook participated in a "fee-splitting scheme" where she split the Medicaid reimbursement with co-conspirators including aides and beneficiaries, says the release from U.S. Attorney Anne Tompkins of the Western District of North Carolina. She also falsified physician signatures on forms, they charged. Cook faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Aide Crystal Deleon Evans also pled guilty in the scheme and faces potential jail time, according to the release. Nine other co-defendants pled guilty and were sentenced to probation.
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