Three Georgians are among the 412 people nationwide charged in a massive federal investigation into health care fraud totaling approximately $1.3 billion, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services announced Thursday.
The Georgians — including a licensed psychologist in DeKalb County — are accused of nearly $1.5 million in fraudulent billing. The bust is being called the largest health care fraud take-down ever in the U.S.
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“Too many trusted medical professionals like doctors, nurses, and pharmacists have chosen to violate their oaths and put greed ahead of their patients,” U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said. “Amazingly, some have made their practices into multi-million dollar criminal enterprises. They seem oblivious to the disastrous consequences of their greed. Their actions not only enrich themselves, often at the expense of taxpayers, but also feed addictions and cause addictions to start.”
Halisi Staten, who owned and operated the Georgia Center for Health, Wellness & Recovery in Lithonia, and Kim Bray, who worked at the clinic, are accused of submitting thousands of fraudulent claims to Medicaid for services that were not provided or not entitled to reimbursement, according to their indictment.
The facility offers help with substance rehab and mental health, according to the website. Staten told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Thursday she was unfamiliar with the charges against her before hanging up.
“I don’t know anything about that,” she said. “Goodbye. You have a good day.”
But according to investigators, Staten and Bray did “knowingly and willfully execute and attempt to execute a scheme and artifice to defraud Georgia Medicaid” of funds to which they were not entitled.
In December 2010, Staten hired Bray to work for her and submitted a request to the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Development Disabilities for a background check on Bray, the indictment states. Based on her criminal history, the agency determined Bray was ineligible to provide services to Medicaid members, but she allegedly continued to work for Staten.
Details about the south Georgia case were not available Thursday, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Savannah.
Among the others charged in the federal investigation are six Michigan doctors accused of a scheme to prescribe unnecessary opioids. A Florida rehab facility is alleged to have recruited addicts with gift cards and visits to strip clubs, leading to $58 million in false treatments and tests.
Officials said those charged in the schemes include more than 120 people involved in illegally prescribing and distributing narcotic painkillers. Such prescription opioids are behind the deadliest drug overdose epidemic in U.S. history. More than 52,000 Americans died of overdoses in 2015, experts believe the numbers have continued to rise.
