(The Center Square) – Twelve Ohio home health aides and one behavioral health specialist face charges of defrauding Medicaid, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced Monday.
Yost’s indictments on felony charges of Medicaid fraud and theft came on the same day the federal government announced a $14.6 billion health care fraud bust on Monday involving 324 people, including 96 licensed medical professionals involved in everything from pill mills to ripping off government medical programs.
Justice Department officials announced the results of its 2025 National Health Care Fraud Takedown involving federal and state law enforcement agencies across the country. The federal government seized more than $245 million in cash, luxury vehicles, cryptocurrency and other assets.
In Ohio, Yost said the 13 Medicaid providers billed Medicaid for $189,332 in services they didn’t provide.
“Billing for made-up services checks every box for fraud, waste and abuse,” Yost said. “Medicaid fraud steals from the vulnerable and from the taxpayers who fund the program – and we don’t tolerate that in Ohio.”
Nine of the 12 indictments are in northeast Ohio, while two came from Cincinnati and the other was in Columbus.
The largest indictment, in terms of money, came against Donna Deaver, a 63-year-old Cleveland woman who accused of billing for services while the patient was in Jamaica for six months, leading to a $64,316 loss for Medicaid.
Yost says Deaver submitted the claims using the names of two family members, who were also Medicaid providers, telling them that the extra income came from a pandemic incentive program.
