(COLUMBUS, Ohio) – Attorney General Mike DeWine said that Alicia K. Mahone, of Cleveland, was convicted today for billing for home health care not provided in the amount of $20,000. Mahone regularly submitted bills, from April to December 2010, to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services claiming to have provided 35 hours of patient care to a Medicaid recipient, while only having provided 15 hours.
Mahone also submitted overlapping bills for several other Medicaid recipients during most of 2010 to January 2011. The overlap meant it was impossible for her to have provided the services as claimed.
“Nobody expects to pay for something and get nothing, especially when it comes to health care,” said Attorney General DeWine. “In cooperation with other agencies, we are always on the lookout for abuses of Medicaid that hurt health care and steal vital funds.”
Mahone, 38, was found guilty of Grand Theft, a fourth-degree felony; Falsification in a Theft Offense, a fourth-degree felony; Theft, a fifth-degree felony; and Falsification in a Theft Offense, a fifth-degree felony.
Sentencing for Mahone was scheduled for April 25.
The Attorney General's Health Care Fraud Section investigates and prosecutes health care providers who defraud the state's Medicaid program. The Section also investigates alleged misappropriations of patient funds and enforces Ohio laws protecting mentally or physically disabled or elderly citizens from financial exploitation, neglect and abuse in long-term care facilities.
Anyone who suspects Medicaid fraud or patient abuse or neglect can contact Attorney General DeWine's office at 800-282-0515 or www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov.