WESTMORELAND – (July 19, 2019) – A Junction City woman must repay more than $3,800 to the Kansas Medicaid Program after pleading guilty to Medicaid fraud-related charges, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said.
Elizabeth Joyce, 22, pleaded guilty on May 16 in Pottawatomie County District Court to one felony count of making a false claim to the Medicaid program and one felony count of theft. District Judge Jeff Elder yesterday ordered Joyce to repay $3,870.31 to the Kansas Medicaid Program and sentenced her to 12 months of probation with an underlying sentence of six months in the Kansas Department of Corrections. Convictions such as this one may also result in a period during which the defendant is prohibited from being paid wages through a government health care program.
An investigation by the attorney general’s Medicaid Fraud and Abuse Division revealed that Joyce claimed she was providing personal care attendant home based services to her mother, when in fact she 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 Joyce and her mother, Terry Sherrick. An analysis of the Medicaid payment data showed 370 hours of overlapping time billed by Sherrick on behalf of Joyce, while Joyce was working for other employers. The crimes occurred between October 2015 and July 2016.
Assistant Attorney General Alma Heckler of Schmidt’s office prosecuted the case.