A New Haven alcohol and drug counselor was sentenced to one year in prison for submitting hundreds of Medicaid claims for services that were never provided using identification numbers of numerous people without their knowledge to fraudulently receive more than $100,000.
Ethel Bethea, 61, was sentenced Thursday in Hartford Superior Court, where Judge David P. Gold ordered her to serve five years of probation once she is released from prison, according to the Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice.
While on parole, a violation would expose Bethea to an additional six years behind bars, Gold ordered.
Criminal justice officials said Gold also ordered him to pay $38,000 in restitution by Monday, with the remaining $63,408 to be paid while he serves his probation. In total, she has been ordered to pay $101,408 in restitution.
Bethea was also ordered not to act as a Medicaid provider or provide services to any Medicaid recipient, criminal justice officials said.
Prior to sentencing, Bethea pleaded guilty under the Alford doctrine to first-degree larceny for defrauding a public community, health insurance fraud, and third-degree identity theft.
Upon being found guilty of a felony related to the program, court officials said she “is also subject to mandatory exclusion as a health care provider from certain federally funded health programs pursuant to federal and state laws and regulations.” ”.
“Medicaid is a government program that provides health coverage to low-income, disabled, and elderly people and is funded by both the federal and state governments,” the Division of Criminal Justice said in a news release.
In September 2018, Bethea was approved by the Connecticut Department of Social Services to be a Connecticut Medical Assistance Provider, the official said. The type of services Bethea could provide was as a behavioral health clinician with a specialty as a certified alcohol and drug counselor. She ran her own business, Ethel Bethea Counseling.
Medicaid Fraud Control Unit inspectors determined that between September 2018 and October 2019, Bethea submitted hundreds of claims for services he claimed to have provided that were not delivered. Bethea used the Medicaid identification numbers of numerous people “without their consent or knowledge” to submit fraudulent claims and obtain $101,408 “for these false invoices,” court officials said.
Additionally, Bethea claimed to have no income and enrolled as a Medicaid recipient, receiving personal medical services paid for by Medicaid, officials said.
The investigation was led by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the State Attorney General’s Office, with assistance from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Connecticut Attorney General’s Office.
Anyone who is aware of suspected fraud or abuse in the public health system is asked to contact the State Attorney General’s Office Medicaid Fraud Control Unit at 860-258-5986.
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