Massachusetts Attorney General (AG) Andrea Joy Campbell announced on February 20, 2024, that the Statewide Grand Jury had returned additional indictments against a Medicaid consultant for allegedly stealing thousands of dollars from elderly nursing home residents.
The defendant was indicted by the Statewide Grand Jury earlier this month on 6 Larceny counts, including three (3) counts of Larceny over $250 from a person over 60 years old.
These indictments follow an initial set of November 2023 indictments against the defendant for her engagement in a scheme to steal money from three elderly nursing home victims. At that time she was indicted by the Statewide Grand Jury on 16 counts, including three (3) counts of Larceny over $250 from a person over 60, six (6) counts of Forgery, three (3) counts of Uttering False Statements, two (2) counts of Larceny over $1,200 from two local small businesses, one (1) count of Attempted Larceny over $250 From an Elder, and one (1) count of attempted larceny over $1200 from a business.
During the alleged acts, the defendant was employed as a Medicaid consultant and regularly assisted elderly residents of various nursing homes to complete applications for MassHealth. As part of the process of assisting elderly residents to apply for MassHealth, the AG’s Office alleges that the defendant was able to readily gain access to residents’ financial information, which she used to steal money from elderly victims.
Following the November 2023 indictments, the AG’s continued investigation revealed that the defendant utilized the financial information of at least four additional victims to steal their money for her own personal use. She allegedly used the debit cards of multiple victims to make or attempt to make various personal purchases, including retail purchases for Amazon, DoorDash, Starbucks, and Disney World, along with legal fees related to a custody battle.
Compliance Perspective
Issue
It is the responsibility of every facility to take the required precautions in keeping residents’ personal information as confidential as possible, to protect residents from financial abuse and exploitation. Facilities should ensure that residents’ information is only being accessed when it is necessary for medical or billing purposes. As identity theft rises across the country, it is important that facilities protect residents’ personal information, while keeping in mind that residents are more likely not to know that they have been a victim of identity theft.
Discussion Points
- Review your policies on misappropriation of residents’ belongings or funds. Also review your policies and procedures for working with residents’ Medicaid consultants and financial caregivers. Ensure that your policies are reviewed at least annually and updated when new information becomes available.
- Train all staff about abuse, neglect, and exploitation of residents, including misappropriation of personal belongings or funds. Also train appropriate staff to monitor payments to the nursing home or assisted living community, as unpaid bills may be a result of financial abuse of the resident. Document that the training occurred, and place the signed document in each employee’s education file.
- Audit to ensure that residents’ bills are being paid, and that resident financial caregiver documentation is on file, such as copies of a POA instrument, Social Security representative payee authorization, or a guardianship court order. Staff should be aware of compliance and ethics concerns and understand their responsibility to report any violations to their supervisor, the compliance and ethics officer, or via the anonymous hotline.
*This news alert has been prepared by Med-Net Concepts, LLC for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal advice.*
