AUSTIN – On May 30, Attorney General Ken Paxton announced $15.2 million in combined Medicaid fraud settlements with a group of Dallas-Fort Worth area Medicaid rehabilitation therapy providers.
Six individuals and four companies agreed to settle claims they violated the Texas Medicaid Fraud Prevention Act. Several of the providers are permanently barred from participating as Texas Medicaid providers.
The lawsuit alleged that rehabilitation therapy providers conspired to avoid repaying $2.7 million owed to Texas Medicaid for overpayments made to Advanced Therapy Services of Fort Worth and Advanced Therapy Services of Dallas for services provided to Texas Medicaid patients.
According to terms of the settlement, three people – David Scott Mitchell, Dr. Abraham Armani and Shahriar Raoufpour – are permanently banned from participating as a Texas Medicaid provider, and Progressive Pediatric Therapy LLC. Additionally, Cynthia L. Kidd and Joanie C. Powell are prohibited from owning, managing or otherwise controlling any entity that provides services to Texas Medicaid patients.
“Protecting taxpayer funds and the financial integrity of the Texas Medicaid program is a priority for my office,” Paxton said. “This case sends a clear message to providers that it doesn’t pay to cheat Medicaid. We will hold violators accountable with personal liability and exclusion from the program as provided by Texas law.”
The settlements are the culmination of an investigation by Attorney General Paxton’s Civil Medicaid Fraud Division and Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. An anonymous tip to the Medicaid Fraud Hotline led to the case. Since 2000, the attorney general’s office has recovered more than $1.8 billion for taxpayers under the Texas Medicaid Fraud Prevention Act.