The nonprofit Mental Health Association of Rockland County, Inc. has agreed to settle with the New York State Office of the Attorney General for $304,000 in response to allegations that the nonprofit altered Medicaid records. In its settlement agreement, the nonprofit admitted to the allegations and accepted responsibility for its actions. Medicaid is a state […]
Fraud
NYS Officials Warn the Elderly to Beware of Phone Scams that Spike During the Summer Months
According to the National Council on Aging, phone scams targeting elderly victims have become so prevalent that they are now considered the “crime of the 21st Century.” The scams are often difficult to trace and are considered a “low risk” crime by fraudsters. Beth Finkel, Director of the AARP in New York, remarked, “It’s estimated […]
Report: Financial Exploitation of Elderly Costs $2.9 Billion Annually
The results of a 2011 report, a collaboration of numerous agencies, show that financial exploitation of the elderly resulted in $2.9 billion in losses to victims in 2010. Moreover, the study, titled, “The MetLife Study of Elder Financial Abuse: Crimes of Occasion, Desperation, and Predation against America’s Elders,” further concluded that losses from financial abuse […]
Potsdam Home Health Care Provider Agrees to Repay $455,000 in Medicaid Overpayments
The Health Services of Northern New York, Inc., a home health care provider based in Potsdam, New York, agreed in December 2013 to pay back $455,000 in overpayments it received from the Medicaid program from January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2012, a period of seven years. In a settlement reached with the New York […]
Deceased Nursing Home Owner’s Estate Pays NY State Over $2M in Medicaid Fraud Case
The estate of Helen Sieger, the former deceased owner of the 400-bed Kingsbridge Heights Rehabilitation and Care Center in the Bronx, New York reached a $2.5 million settlement in June 2013 with the Attorney General’s office for defrauding Medicaid. According to the settlement, $1.2 million will go towards reimbursing Medicaid, and $1.3 million will go […]
Former Manager of Home for the Disabled Pleads Guilty to Stealing over $1K from Residents
Samantha Cross, 31, a former assistant manager at Schoharie ARC, a New York home for the disabled, admitted in March 2014 to stealing $1,503 from the residents’ personal allowance funds. Cross, who appeared before Schoharie Town Court Justice Kenneth Knutsen, pled guilty to one count of falsifying business records, a misdemeanor. In addition, Cross admitted […]
Former Health Aide at Long Island Retirement Facility Pleads Guilty to Attempting to Steal $10K from Elderly Patient
Stephanie Benodin, 26, pleaded guilty to Attempted Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree in February 2014 before Susan T. Kluewer in Nassau District Court. Benodin, a Queens resident, worked as a personal care assistant at The Tuttle Center, a long-term care retirement community that is part of The Amsterdam at Harborside in Port Washington, New […]
Feds: Employees of Financial Institutions Can Now Report Suspected Cases of Financial Elder Abuse
As the senior population in the United States continues to grow, financial fraud and abuse of the elderly is becoming an increasing problem. According to a report by MetLife, financial abuse of the elderly resulted in $2.9 billion in losses in 2010. In many cases, scammers will tell their elderly victims that they need thousands […]
Health Care Agency Agrees to Repay Millions to Medicaid for Enrolling Ineligible Patients in Program
VNSNY Choice, a division of the Visiting Nurse Service of New York, agreed in October 2013 in principle to pay back Medicaid $33.6 million for enrolling patients into its program who were ineligible. VNSNY Choice is New York’s largest managed long-term care agency. According to New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman, the settlement […]