WESTMORELAND – (May 17, 2019) – A Junction City woman has been ordered to repay more than $3,800 to the Kansas Medicaid Program after pleading guilty to Medicaid fraud-related charges, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said.
Terry Sherrick, 50, pleaded guilty March 15, 2019, in Pottawatomie County District Court to one felony count of making a false claim to the Medicaid program, one felony count of theft and one felony count of unlawful acts concerning computers. District Judge Jeff Elder yesterday ordered the defendant to repay $3,870.31 to the Kansas Medicaid Program. Judge Elder also sentenced Sherrick to 12 months of probation with an underlying sentence of eight months in the Kansas Department of Corrections.
An investigation by the attorney general’s Medicaid Fraud and Abuse Division revealed that Sherrick repeatedly checked her personal care attendant into Authenticare, the Medicaid electronic billing system, using her phone. Sherrick claimed the personal care attendant was providing home based services, when in fact the personal care attendant was clocked in and working for other employers. The pay for the personal care services was placed into a joint checking account accessible to both Sherrick and the personal care attendant. An analysis of the Medicaid payment data showed 370 hours of overlapping time billed by Sherrick on behalf of her personal care attendant. The time billed overlapped time the personal care attendant worked for other employers. The crimes occurred between October 2015 and July 2016.
Assistant Attorney General Alma Heckler of Schmidt’s office prosecuted the case.