Behavioral health providers serve individuals who need help with a variety of mental health and substance use needs. These services can be provided in settings from prevention programs to community-based and inpatient treatment programs. Janice Wrenn, formerly known as Janice Briggs, committed Medicaid fraud through the behavioral health facilities she operated in Oklahoma City and Edmond, Oklahoma. (And now it appears she needs some specialized treatment of her own for her fraudulent behavior.)
The Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office Medicaid Fraud Control Unit received a tip that Briggs Family & Youth Association submitted false claims to Medicaid. Even after the Oklahoma Health Care Authority (OHCA), which administers the Oklahoma Medicaid program, terminated the contracts her company had, Wrenn continued to illegally submit claims to the government health care program.
Wrenn was found guilty of six counts of Medicaid fraud by an Oklahoma County jury. At the sentencing hearing, the court ordered her to pay $393,934.86 in restitution.
Medicaid benefits are intended to pay for medical care for vulnerable, low-income individuals. Instead, Wrenn’s illegal behavior allowed her to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars intended for people mired in many difficult situations. (This fraudster is fortunate that she did not have to serve time behind bars. Let’s hope she understands that when Medicaid says “No,” the agency really means “No.”)
Today’s Fraud of the Day comes from an article, “Operator of health facilities convicted of Medicaid fraud,” published by kfor.com on March 23, 2022.
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – A woman who operated behavioral health facilities in Oklahoma was ordered to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for her role in a Medicaid fraud scheme.
Janice Wrenn, who was formerly known as Janice Briggs, operated behavioral health facilities in Oklahoma City and Edmond.
