State receives $2.4M as part of Medicaid settlement

Roughly $2.4 million will be returned to the Missouri Medicaid program as part of a multistate settlement with Baltimore-based Maxim Healthcare Services Inc.

The funding is part of a $130 million civil settlement tied to allegations that Maxim offices in 41 states submitted Medicaid claims for services that were not rendered and claims that were lacking proper documentation. It also was alleged that some Maxim facilities were not properly licensed and were therefore ineligible to provide services, according to a news release from Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster's office.

“Medicaid pays companies like Maxim Healthcare Services to ensure Medicaid in-home nursing and home health aide services are delivered appropriately,” Koster said in the release. “I am committed to holding companies responsible for doing what Medicaid pays them to do - make sure the services are provided properly and billed appropriately.”

The investigation of Maxim began with a lawsuit in a U.S. district court in New Jersey, which alleged that the company filed false claims for a single Medicaid recipient. From there, the case blossomed into a 41-state look into the company's billing practices.

Medicaid provider fraud, abuse and neglect can be reported to Koster's office in three ways:

• by calling the Medicaid Fraud Hotline at (800) 286-3932;
• by e-mailing attorney.general@ago.mo.gov; and
• by filing a complaint on the attorney general's Web site.

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