Local health care workers charged with Medicaid fraud

Yahoo

01-07-2025

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WJW) — Thirteen Ohio health care providers are now charged with felonies for allegedly defrauding Medicaid, billing the federal government a combined more than $180,000 for services they did not provide, according to authorities.
The alleged fraud was investigated by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in Attorney General Dave Yost's office, according to a Monday news release.
'Billing for made-up services checks every box for fraud, waste and abuse,' Yost is quoted in the release. 'Medicaid fraud steals from the vulnerable and from the taxpayers who fund the program — and we don't tolerate that in Ohio.'
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Among those indicted are 12 home health aides and one behavioral health specialist, according to the release. Ten of the providers are in Northeast Ohio:
Donna Deaver, 63, of Cleveland, is accused of billing for services performed while the recipient was in Jamaica on a six-month vacation, according to the release. She allegedly used the names of two family members, who were also Medicaid providers, 'telling them the extra income came from a pandemic incentive program,' reads the release. It was a $64,316 loss for Medicaid.
Natosha Hall, 32, of Cleveland, is accused of seeking reimbursement for services she allegedly performed while on a trip to Barbados. The loss totaled $1,037.
Rachelle Monday, 29, of Cleveland, is accused of falsifying time sheets while working at Warm Living Health Care in Parma. At the time she claimed to be working, she was actually working another job as a parking lot attendant, according to Yost's office. The loss totaled $16,041.
Gerald Patterson, 57, of Akron, is accused of falsifying time sheets while working at Enterprise Health Services in Akron, billing for services performed while he was working a second job and traveling out of state, according to Yost's office. The loss totaled $6,184.
Tara Patterson, 46, of Akron, admitted to billing multiple times for services she did not provide while out of state, as part of a kickback scheme with the recipient of the services, according to Yost's office. The loss totaled $15,210.
Thong Phaphouvaninh, 64, of Orrville, and Bounmy Thammavongsa, 60, of Perrysburg, reportedly confessed to billing for services they claimed to have provided while working for Pinnacle Home Health of Tallmadge, despite being hours away from the recipients at the time. The loss totaled $33,416.
Patric Snowden, 49, of Maple Heights, reportedly confessed to billing for services she allegedly provided while she was actually on trips to warm travel destinations in the U.S., as well as the Dominican Republic, France and Jamaica. The loss totaled $2,318.
Janay Veal, 37, of Youngstown, is accused of continuing to bill Medicaid for services provided to a recipient even after being removed from the patient's care plan, and on days when the recipient's family member had provided the care. The loss totaled $4,923.
Miranda Williams, 30, of Mentor, worked with students as a behavioral health specialist for GuidingPoint of Cleveland, according to the release. She allegedly billed for numerous services though she wasn't actually at her assigned school. Some of her claims also 'overlapped with other claims she submitted at a separate counseling job,' reads the release. The loss totaled $26,915.
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Erica Gore, 35, of Columbus, allegedly billed for services that had been canceled at the last minute. The recipient's family members showed text messages confirming that Gore had canceled services on 37 days for which she had claimed reimbursement, according to the release. The loss totaled $2,033.
Donna Wells, 35, of Cincinnati, allegedly billed for services for recipients who were hospitalized, while Wells was traveling in Georgia and Nevada, according to the release. The loss totaled $3,183.
The takedown was part of a nationwide federal crackdown on health care fraud and illegal drug diversion schemes that revealed $14.6 billion in false billings and 15.6 million pills of controlled substances that had been illegally diverted.
Authorities seized $245 million in cash, luxury cars and more, according to the release.
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