A Kansas City, Kan., woman was ordered today to repay more than $21,000 to the Kansas Medicaid program after pleading no contest to Medicaid fraud-related charges, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said.
Linda Marie Bonner, 59, pleaded no contest in May in Wyandotte County District Court to one count of making a false claim to the Medicaid program.
Judge Michael Grosko today ordered Bonner to repay $21,261 to the Kansas Medicaid program. Judge Grosko also sentenced Bonner to 12 months probation with an underlying sentence of 8 months in prison and 12 months post release supervision. Convictions such as this one also result in a period during which the defendant is prohibited from being paid wages through a government health care program.
An investigation revealed that Bonner, while employed as a care attendant for several different Medicaid consumers, fraudulently billed Medicaid as though she was providing services for each of the Medicaid consumers simultaneously in addition to non-Medicaid consumers which was not possible. The crimes occurred between January 2010 and December 2011.
The case was part of “Operation No Show,” a cooperative effort between the attorney general’s office and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-Office of Inspector General to investigate fraudulent billing to Medicaid for personal care services provided in Medicaid beneficiaries’ homes.
Today’s sentencing brings to a close the seventh case in this joint effort to crack down on those who take advantage of these federal and state administered health care programs, according to the attorney general’s office. More than $330,000 in restitution payable to the Kansas Medicaid program has been ordered as a result of these efforts.
Other joint investigations are ongoing. The cases are being jointly investigated by federal and state authorities and prosecuted by the attorney general’s Medicaid Fraud and Abuse Division. Assistant Attorney General Alma Heckler of Schmidt’s office prosecuted the case against Bonner.