Four facing federal charges of defrauding Medicaid out of millions of dollars

By  Steve Pope | October 22, 2018

Four Pittsburgh residents are facing charges in federal court for allegedly defrauding several state Medicaid programs out of millions of dollars over six years.

Travis Moriarty, 37, Tiffhany Covington, 41, Autumn Brown, 31, and Brenda Lowry Horton, 48, all of Pittsburgh, are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

According to court documents, the defendants were employees of one or more of four health care companies—Moriarty Consultants, Inc., Activity Daily Living Services, Coordination Care, Inc., and Everyday People Staffing, Inc.  The companies provided health care, transportation and related services to Pennsylvania Medicaid recipients

From January 2011 through April 2017 the companies received more than $87 million in Medicaid payments from the submission of fraudulent claims. Prosecutors alleged that the four defendants conspired with each other to bill Medicaid for services that were never provided.

In some cases, prosecutors alleged, Medicaid claims were submitted for care that occurred while the actual Medicaid recipients were hospitalized, incarcerated, or deceased. The defendants paid kickbacks to consumers in exchange for the consumers’ agreement to participate in the submission of fraudulent timesheets in support of Medicaid claims, court documents said.

If convicted the four defendants face a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison, a fine of $250,000 or both.

Steve Pope can be contacted at steve.pope@grantstreetnews.com