A center for the disabled in the Mat-Su Valley that allegedly overcharged the Alaska Medicaid Program by hundreds of thousands of dollars is facing fraud charges.
The Mat-Su Activity and Respite Center, LLC suspended its services in June amid an investigation by state. Monday, the Alaska Department of Law’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit announced the center and it’s owner, 58-year-old Laura Sasseen of Palmer, had been charged with falsifying business records and medical assistance fraud.
“A full review of the agency records revealed that the alterations primarily consisted of increases in recipient service units rendered,” charging documents say.
An audit, conducted by certified public accountant agency Myers and Stauffer, also found time sheets and hours provided had been changed. From the year 2009 alone, the audit determined $37,451.88 in Medicaid payments were connected to documents that had been altered, according to court documents. In all, the total Medicaid overpayment calculation was more than $700,000.
As the center’s sole owner, Sasseen was “the only person to benefit monetarily from falsely inflating billings to Medicaid and altering documents…” charging documents say.
Meanwhile, the state says the company paid to process its Medicaid payments isn’t working up to the expectations of its contract.
The Department of Health and Social Services says Xerox has failed to “timely and accurately” pay providers who serve patients using Medicaid, according to a statement from Gov. Sean Parnell’s office. The DHSS filed an administrative breach of contract, and the state also notified the company it was assessing $46.7 million in liquidated damages against Xerox.