Koster
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (Legal Newsline) Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster announced on Wednesday that his office has reached a settlement with a Caruthersville, Mo.-based in-home personal care services company that improperly billed Medicaid.
The settlement with CMV In-Home Assistance Inc. resolves allegations that the company improperly billed Medicaid for services from 2007 to 2010.
Koster's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit alleged that CMV improperly billed for the in-home services of five recipients who had been institutionalized and failed to ensure that 30 of its employees were registered with the Family Care Safety Registry as required by law.
"The Family Care Safety Registry was established by law to protect children, the elderly, and the physically or mentally disabled in Missouri," Koster said. "This is a vital tool to ensure that those who care for vulnerable Missourians have a clean background and are qualified for this important work."
The agreement requires CMV to pay $205,000 in restitution, $102,500 in damages, $60,000 in civil penalties and $7,500 for legal costs. In addition, CMV is required to stop submitting reimbursement claims to Medicaid for services to patients who have been institutionalized or for services provided by those not on the FCSR. CMV is also prohibited from engaging in such actions in the future.
"One of my top priorities as attorney general is to enforce our laws against those who cheat Missouri taxpayers by committing Medicaid fraud," Koster said. "We will continue to search for companies and individuals who would perpetrate this kind of fraud, and recover public money inappropriately billed to our health care system."