Woman fined after guilty plea to Medicaid fraud

By Steve Kanigher

Monday, Aug. 1, 2011 | 5:12 p.m.

A District Court arraignment hearing master sentenced a Las Vegas woman to a suspended 30-day jail sentence and ordered her to pay $1,279 in restitution after she pleaded guilty to Medicaid fraud, the Nevada Attorney General's office said today.

Tammy Murphy pleaded guilty to intentional failure to maintain adequate records, a gross misdemeanor. She was also ordered to perform 40 hours of community service.

In 2009, the attorney general's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit received information from a citizen who claimed Murphy was not providing personal care services to a Medicaid recipient while still receiving payment from the program. Medicaid has a personal care assistant program to keep people in their homes by providing basic services, including bathing, dressing, cleaning and meal preparation. Murphy was self-employed as a live-in care provider. It was discovered that Murphy failed to provide care for the patient for whom she was employed, yet claimed she performed the services and received payment as if she had done the work.

“In order to protect the Medicaid system, the public funds that support it and the health and well being of Medicaid recipients, every instance of Medicaid fraud must be investigated and prosecuted where fraud is proved,” Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto said.

Individuals convicted of Medicaid fraud may also be subject to exclusion from future program participation.