Psychotherapy counselor sentenced after submitting $1.6M in fraudulent Medicaid claims
Contributed | pixabay.com/illustrations/gavel-law-legal-judge-court-8436504/
A gavel.
A state-licensed professional counselor and North Haven business owner was sentenced to three years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for defrauding Medicaid of more than $1.6 million.
Rachel Collins, the highest paid behavioral health clinician in Connecticut enrolled in Medicaid from January 2020 through May 2023, submitted more than 17,000 false claims, including claims for patients she had stopped treating or had never treated, according to authorities.
Also, from November 2020 to September 2021, she received $41,182 in unemployment benefits from the state of Connecticut by claiming to be unemployed, investigators found.
Collins provided psychotherapy to children, adolescents and adults – particularly children and adolescents with a variety of behavioral and mental health issues – from her business, LPC Counseling Services LLC.
She submitted the false claims to Medicaid for psychotherapy services she did not perform between January 2018 and March 2024, authorities said.
At certain times during the scheme, Collins was actually working as a full-time clinician for another provider. Collins would, at times, submit claims for more than 24 hours of services provided in one day.
In 2023, Collins submitted 96 claims to Medicaid representing that she provided about 12 hours of in-person psychotherapy per day, when in reality she was vacationing at Disney World and did not treat a single patient.
Collins took several other trips around the U.S.; purchased expensive tickets to more than 30 concerts, shows and sporting events; and spent more than $150,000 on food delivery.
Collins was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Judge Sarala V. Nagala in Hartford
Nagala ordered Collins to pay full restitution.
On Aug. 6, 2024, Collins pleaded guilty to one count of healthcare fraud.
Collins, who is released on a $100,000 bond, is required to report to prison on April 28.
This investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General, with the assistance of the Connecticut Department of Social Services.
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