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[MM Curator Summary]: Ebony Mayo stole a Medicaid member ID to not have to pay for her own costs of care with her commercial insurance copays. You paid $16k for her to be able to do that.
Clipped from: https://patch.com/connecticut/hartford/hartford-woman-charged-stealing-medicaid-benefits-state
Crime & Safety
Connecticut’s chief state’s attorney charges the 42-year-old with using someone else’s identity to get Medicaid coverage.
Posted Fri, May 5, 2023 at 9:28 am ET|Updated Fri, May 5, 2023 at 9:30 am ET
State authorities have charged a Hartford woman with illegally obtaining Medicaid benefits for medical services so as to avoid co-pays with her regular medical insurance provider. (Shutterstock)
HARTFORD, CT — A Hartford woman has been charged this week with illegally obtaining Medicaid benefits when she wasn’t eligible.
Ebony Mayo, 42, of Hartford, was charged Wednesday with improperly using the identity of a Medicaid recipient and using that recipient’s identification to get medical goods and services for herself.
She was charged by inspectors from the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney.
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Mayo was charged with one count each of first-degree larceny by defrauding a public community, health insurance fraud and first-degree identity theft.
According to the arrest warrant affidavit, from March 2021 through October 2021, Mayo utilized the Medicaid number and personal identification of another party to acquire medical treatment and services for herself.
Find out what’s happening in Greater Hartfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
State officials said Mayo admitted to using the identity and Medicaid card of another to pay for her own medical visits and medications, even though she had her own insurance, in order to avoid co-payments.
The investigation revealed that by Mayo causing the fraudulent claims, Medicaid paid 93 claims for service amounting to a loss of $15,778, according to authorities.
Mayo was released on a $20,000 non-surety bond and is scheduled to appear in Hartford Superior Court May 16.
Each of the charges, according to state officials, are class B felonies punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Anyone with knowledge of suspected fraud and abuse in the public health care system is asked to contact the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit at the Chief State’s Attorney’s Office at 860-258-5838.
For the full announcement of the charges, click on this link.
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