The Georgia Attorney General’s Office indicted two Woodstock residents accused of defrauding Medicaid of more than $1.4 million. Kim and Marcel Higgins, the owners of Atlanta’s Overcomers Day Services, LLC, face a combined 23 counts of Medicaid fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit Medicaid fraud.
According to the indictment, Marcel Higgins worked as a paraprofessional providing Intensive Family Intervention services to children enrolled in Georgia Medicaid. Kim Higgins served as the office administrator and submitted claims to the program. Prosecutors claim that from October 2017 to July 2023, the pair submitted claims for both services they never provided and services provided by “unqualified individuals,” including Kim Higgins. When a state investigator requested progress notes and other records from the business, officials provided documents “which contained false and fraudulent information.”
A DeKalb County grand jury indicted the pair on December 10. According to Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, “Those who commit Medicaid fraud are stealing from taxpayers, and they’re abusing a program that’s meant to care for our most vulnerable Georgians. Theft of public funds won’t be tolerated, and anyone who attempts to exploit the system will be held accountable by our office.” The Medicaid Fraud and Patient Protection Division has secured over 90 convictions for Medicaid fraud since 2016, with over $19 million in restitution.
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: https://www.cbsnews.com/atlanta/news/atlanta-behavioral-health-center-medicaid-fraud-indictment-georgia-ag/