Koster
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (Legal Newsline) - Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster announced a settlement on Wednesday with an in-home personal care company.
Southwest Center for Independent Living, a Springfield, Mo., company that arranges for the provision of in-home personal care services for qualified individuals, allegedly submitted claims to Medicaid for in-home health services that were not provided by personal care attendant Angela Adams.
SWCIL allegedly knew or should have known that Adams had not provided in-home personal care services on dozens of instances, as Adams allegedly submitted timesheets indicating that she was providing services to two SWCIL clients at the same time or while the client was in the hospital.
The settlement requires SWCIL to pay $43,503.72 in civil penalties and court costs. SWCIL also agreed to implement various quality assurance measures to ensure that services billed to Medicaid are actually being provided to Medicaid recipients.
"Medicaid pays organizations like SWCIL to ensure Medicaid in-home personal care services are delivered and billed appropriately," Koster said. "I am committed to ensuring that the dollars used in the Medicaid program are used to provide necessary healthcare, and that every dollar is accounted for. I appreciate the cooperation of the SWCIL in this matter and I am pleased that they have agreed to implement new quality assurance measures to help ensure accurate billing."
Koster's office, along with the Greene County Prosecuting Attorney's office, filed criminal charges against personal care attendant Angela Adams on August 2 as a result of the allegations.