Richmond Couple Sentenced for Overbilling Medicaid by Nearly $1M: Wife Gets Four Years, Husband Six Months
A couple in Richmond, Virginia, was sentenced on Nov. 10 for conspiracy to commit health care fraud in a scheme to overbill Medicaid by nearly $1 million: Erica Jackson was sentenced to four years in prison and Jason Jackson to six months in prison. Medicaid is the joint federal-state program that provides health coverage to people with low incomes.
According to court documents, Erica Jackson, 39, and Jason Jackson, 40, created Live 4 Life, Inc. in 2012, an agency that provided mental health counseling services to Medicaid recipients under Mental Health Skill Building and Intensive In-Home Services. Erica Jackson oversaw the company's day-to-day activities, legal and regulatory compliance, staff training and clinical supervision, while Jason Jackson was solely responsible for submitting claims to Medicaid.
Beginning in January 2019, the couple conspired with their employees to bill Medicaid for services that were never provided. Erica Jackson directed Qualified Mental Health Professionals to treat brief interactions with clients as one or more hours of services and to bill for services purportedly provided to two or more clients at the same time. The company routinely double-billed for siblings receiving in-home services, and progress notes repeatedly claimed services to two clients in locations miles apart during the same time period. The couple also billed additional hours beyond the fraudulent hours submitted by employees, for services never rendered.
The couple used the fraudulent proceeds to purchase luxury cars, including a Maserati GranTurismo and a BMW 750Li, to invest in other business ventures Jason Jackson operated, including two failed vegan restaurants, and to make more than $120,000 in lease payments for their Richmond residence.
Senior U.S. District Judge John A. Gibney Jr. imposed the sentences. Theophani K. Stamos, First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Ian Kaufmann, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Richmond Field Office, made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert S. Day prosecuted the case, No. 3:26-cr-17. The Justice Department said the case is part of the administration's Task Force to Eliminate Fraud.
(Source: U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia)
Source: U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：美国卫生与公众服务部总部休伯特·汉弗莱大楼（华盛顿），联邦医疗补助由该部下属机构管理。照片：ajay_suresh，CC BY 2.0，取自 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Hubert H. Humphrey Building, headquarters of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, which oversees Medicaid. Photo by ajay_suresh, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
