On May 16, 2018, Stephanie L. Patterson, of Carbondale, Illinois, was sentenced in the U.S. District Court in Benton, Illinois on the charge that she engaged in a scheme to steal from a health care program. The district court sentenced Patterson to five years of probation with the first four months to be served in home detention. She was also ordered to pay $81,131.20 in restitution to the Home Services Program and a $100.00 special assessment.

Court records indicate that Patterson defrauded the State of Illinois Medicaid Home Services Program by falsely claiming and taking payments for personal assistant services not actually performed. The Home Services Program is a Medicaid Waiver Program designed to allow individuals to stay in their homes instead of entering a nursing home. Patterson falsely billed the program between January 2011 to June 2016, when she falsely claimed that a relative purportedly rendered personal assistant services to a customer when, in fact, the relative was incarcerated at the time services were claimed to be performed. As a result, Patterson improperly billed hundreds of hours of services and obtained $81,131.20 in payments for services not performed.

The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, and the Illinois State Police, Medicaid Fraud Control Bureau. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael J. Quinley.

If you suspect or know of an individual or company that is not complying with healthcare laws or public aid programs, you may report this activity to the local office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, or you may call 1.800.447.8477.