Perkinsville woman falsified time sheets

The Vermont Attorney General’s office reported Tuesday a Perkinsville woman knowingly submitted more than $4,000 worth of false Medicaid claims from October 2012 to April 2013 while serving as a part-time caregiver.
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Vermont AG: Perkinsville woman falsified time sheets By Chris Garofolo | Mar 26, 2014 Eagle-Times 0 WEATHERSFIELD — The Vermont Attorney General’s office reported Tuesday a Perkinsville woman knowingly submitted more than $4,000 worth of false Medicaid claims from October 2012 to April 2013 while serving as a part-time caregiver. Magen Hill, 27, of Upper Falls Road, pleaded not guilty to a felony count of Medicaid fraud in a White River Junction courtroom Tuesday morning and was released on bail after she was issued a citation for filing false service claims to ARIS Solutions, a state contracted payroll facilitator, for an estimated $4,485. Prosecutors say Hill entered more than a dozen time sheets to ARIS Solutions for services that she did not render. If convicted, she could spend up to 10 years in prison or payback twice the amount of the money wrongfully obtained. Jefferson Krauss, a detective with the Medicaid Fraud & Residential Abuse Unit in the Attorney General’s office, received a report from the Vermont Department of Health Access Program Integrity Unit on June 3, 2013 regarding an alleged case of Medicaid fraud. He found Hill was hired to provide personal care services as early as October 2012 for an elderly homebound man who suffered from a serious medical condition. Designated caregivers complete a time sheet for provided services and have it signed by an employer to attest to the accuracy of the form. Hill’s duties were not for any hands-on personal care, rather she cleaned the house and picked up groceries until she stopped working in mid-April 2013. According to court documents, Hill routinely worked twice a week for two hours at a time and rarely exceeded that despite the fact that multiple forms show her presence for greater lengths of time. She admitted to Krauss she did not provide all of the personal or respite care services she was compensated for during her time as a caretaker. Hill, whose criminal history shows two prior felony and four misdemeanor convictions, was paid a net total of $4,169 on 15 time sheets, representing 229 personal care and 227 respite care hours. The gross amount paid by Medicaid was $4,485. “Hill reportedly admitted to her probation and parole officer that she had committed fraud associated with this care,” Krauss wrote in an affidavit filed with the Windsor Criminal Division of the Vermont Superior Court. “I therefore have probable cause to believe that Magen Hill committed the offense of Medicaid fraud by aiding and abetting in the submission of time sheets documenting her care of [the subject] when she did not provide the services and receiving payment for those false claims.” Krauss’ report also notes Hill received payment for work provided by her boyfriend at the time, Joey Bergeron, who is currently incarcerated at Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield. Hill made claims she was provided prescription narcotics by the recipient’s family, but a review of the hospice records do not show any apparent discrepancies related to the physician-ordered dosages. A criminal investigation into the alleged fraud was jointly conducted with the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office of Inspector General.