The federal government prosecuted three executives of a home healthcare agency in Missouri for stealing $552,000 from the state’s Medicaid program. The executives pled guilty.
At separate hearings in St. Louis’s U.S. District Court, Doriann Morgan (58 years old), Thalisa Walton (46 years old), and Barbara Jackson (59 years old) all admitted to conspiring to file Medicaid reimbursement claims that were fraudulent. Falsely claiming to have given personal care services, they acknowledged obtaining $552,659.
All three of them used A Mother’s Touch In-Home Care to make the assertions. According to paperwork from the U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Missouri, the three individuals are no longer associated with the company, which is still operating under new ownership.
If you were a client of Morgan’s and Walton was an employee from January 2018 through August 2021, you might be the subject of the allegations. As the manager of the company, Jackson was in charge of finding new customers and distributing them to the appropriate staff members.
Three of the defendants agreed in their plea deals to filing false claims for services allegedly rendered by Jackson on behalf of a woman who did not reside in Missouri and who did not really receive any such services. Even when their social media posts revealed that they were busy with other things, they nevertheless managed to submit claims that they were offering services.
In a separate legal settlement, Morgan, Walton, and Jackson reached an agreement to pay $910,000. This was in response to a case that claimed they had violated the False Claims Act. The parties involved in the settlement admitted to using inaccurate timesheets and payroll records to claim payment for nonexistent services.
Michele Bickley filed the civil compensation claim using the False Claims Act’s whistleblower protections. The rules make it possible for an individual or entity to sue on the government’s behalf and share in any damages awarded. The payout to Bickley stands at $90,090.
“(Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General) is committed to protecting our communities and taxpayer funds from schemes targeting Missouri’s Medicaid program, which provides necessary services to vulnerable populations,” Linda Hanley, special agent in charge with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, said in a statement. “Working proudly with the Missouri Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and our other law enforcement partners, our agency will continue to investigate those who threaten the integrity of federal and state health care programs and the people served by them.”
All three defendants face sentencing on August 26 and might spend the next decade behind bars, pay a fine of $250,000, or serve both terms.
