Home Health Agency Owner Charged for False Medicaid Claims

The owner and operator of a New Jersey home health aide agency was arrested last Friday for allegedly billing Medicaid for services her company had not rendered, the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor announced after executing multiple search warrants leading up to the arrest.

Laurie Provost, the owner/operator of Home Care Solutions, was charged on July 12 with seven counts of second-degree health care claims fraud and one count of third-degree Medicaid fraud.

“Defrauding the Medicaid program is a very serious crime that puts an unfair burden on honest taxpayers and takes money out of a system meant to help those who are most vulnerable,” said Acting Attorney General John Hoffman. “The Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor will continue to be vigilant in prosecuting these high priority cases.”

Advertisement

Home Care Solutions is a home health aide agency that sends aides to the homes of Medicaid beneficiaries to provide them with care and contracts with skilled medical professionals to provide specialized services to patients requiring such care.

From 2011 to the present, Provost has been charged with fraudulent billings through Home Care Solutions where she allegedly submitted numerous fraudulent claims to Medicaid and/or one of the managed care organizations that provide services to Medicaid beneficiaries and process provider claims and payments on behalf of the Medicaid program.

The Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor also alleges Provost knowingly submitted requests for payment for services that were not provided, including billing for services supposedly provided to Medicaid beneficiaries by home health care aides while those beneficiaries were hospitalized or on vacation.

Advertisement

Detectives with the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor executed a search warrants on Friday at Home Care Solutions; at Provost’s residence in Sea Girt, N.J.; and in her personal vehicle.

The investigation was coordinated by Deputy Attorney General Christopher Ruzich and Detective Anthony Iannice out of the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.

Second-degree crimes carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in state prison and a criminal fine of up to $150,000, while third-degree crimes carry a maximum sentence of five years in state prison and a fine of up to $15,000. The charges against Provost will be presented to a state grand jury for potential indictment.

Written by Alyssa Gerace

Ed. note: New Jersey’s Office of the Attorney General listed Laurie Provost as the owner/operator of Home Care Solutions, but Provost’s legal representation has publicly stated she is an employee of the company and maintains her innocence in the matter.

The statement says, in part:

“A recently fired disgruntled employee saw fit to exact some type of revenge against Laurie for being fired, by stealing piecemeal documents and using same to fabricate a fanciful yet false tale of misdeeds by my client. In the end, it is only this expelled employee and others who may have conspired with her, who will face certain criminal prosecution for their theft, harassment, and perjury to law enforcement officials.”

Companies featured in this article: