Tia Collins, Health Care Fraud, Pennsylvania 2023

Health care fraud has reached epidemic levels in Pennsylvania, with a South Carolina resident being sentenced to four years' probation for her role in a multi-million dollar conspiracy.

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Tia Collins, 45, a resident of Fort Mill, South Carolina, was sentenced in federal court for conspiracy to defraud the Pennsylvania Medicaid program and health care fraud, Acting United States Attorney Stephen R. Kaufman announced today.

United States District Judge Cathy Bissoon sentenced Collins to four years' probation, including six months of home detention for her role in the years-long conspiracy. Collins was also ordered to pay restitution to the Pennsylvania Medicaid program in the amount of $97,907.68.

Collins was affiliated with Moriarty Consultants, Inc. (MCI), Activity Daily Living Services, Inc. (ADL), and Everyday People Staffing, Inc. (EPS) – three related entities operating in the home health care industry. MCI, ADL, and a fourth company, Coordination Care, Inc. (CCI), were approved under the Pennsylvania Medicaid program to offer certain services to qualifying Medicaid recipients, including personal assistance services (PAS), service coordination, and non-medical transportation, among other services.

Between January 2011 and April 2017, MCI, ADL, and CCI, collectively, received more than $87,000,000 in Medicaid payments based on claims submitted for these services, with PAS payments accounting for more than $80,000,000 of the total amount.

Collins admitted that she participated in a wide-ranging conspiracy to defraud the Pennsylvania Medicaid program for the purpose of obtaining illegal Medicaid payments through the submission of fraudulent claims for services that were never provided to the consumers identified on the claims, or for which there was insufficient or fabricated documentation to support the claims.

To date, a total of sixteen defendants have been charged in connection with this investigation, twelve of whom have pleaded guilty. The remaining defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Assistant United States Attorneys Eric G. Olshan and Special Assistant United States Attorney Edward Song are prosecuting this case on behalf of the government. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General – Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – Office of Inspector General, and United States Postal Inspection Service conducted the investigation of the defendant.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdpa/pr/south-carolina-resident-sentenced-multi-million-dollar-health-care-fraud-conspiracy