Medicaid Fraud in the State of Virginia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Medicaid Fraud in the State of Virginia - Essay Example They set up a personal care service center that is duly authorized to provide respite care to Medicaid recipients. Respite care is usually given by the family or another unpaid primary caregiver of the recipient. Having set up authorized respite care centers for Medicaid beneficiaries, such individuals then proceed to file false or fraudulent claims for reimbursement from the Medicaid program. Gilchrist claimed reimbursement for 38 non-existent Medicaid patients for which her company received approximately $294,713 (The United States Attorney General's Office, 2013). Cases of fraud on the Medicaid program have dire implications. This is especially the case when the US Government is lobbying to increase Medicare coverage to more Americans, especially the poor and those who cannot afford health insurance covers. For this reason, states have taken measures to arrest the problem. The state of Virginia, for instance, has set up the Virginia Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit to deal with defrauders.