HARRISBURG — Attorney General Michelle Henry announced that four people who conspired to defraud Medicaid of nearly $9 million have pleaded guilty and been sentenced for their roles in the scheme.
The scheme involved overcharging Medicaid for non-medical transportation plans that were scarcely used and medically unnecessary. The scheme revolved around three Philadelphia-based service coordination agencies: Brighter Care Services, Pennsylvania Service Coordination Agency, and Pennsylvania Development Agency, and a non-medical transportation service, Rides Your Way.
Jason Alexandre, Rex Barr, Earlson Satine, and Natasha Hudson were charged in 2021 with Medicaid fraud, theft by deception, and related offenses, and ultimately pleaded guilty.
Most recently, Alexandre, owner of Brighter Care, was sentenced to one to three years in prison, seven years of probation, and to pay $1.63 million restitution.
Barr, owner of Rides Your Way, was sentenced to five years of probation and 100 hours of community service. Barr previously repaid $2 million and will repay an additional $1 million, as a condition of his sentence.
“These defendants concocted an elaborate scheme that defrauded Medicaid and took money from vulnerable Pennsylvanians who could have benefited from the program,” Attorney General Henry said. “Those who steal from Medicaid are stealing from Pennsylvanians, including children who need essential services to improve their health and happiness.”
The Office of Attorney General investigation revealed that the service coordination agencies owned by the defendants utilized a non-medical transportation service provider called Rides Your Way, owned by Barr. The service coordination agencies enrolled their participants in Rides Your Way’s expensive non-medical transportation subscription plans, without regard to whether those services were appropriate.
The defendants split the millions of dollars in Medicaid reimbursement while providing minimal services.
Between 2017 and 2019, the service coordination agencies received over $7.9 million from Medicaid, supposedly for reimbursement for services provided by Rides Your Way. However, during that same time period, Rides Your Way only provided a total of 1,712 rides to Medicaid consumers. Most participants enrolled with Rides Your Way never used the service.
Additionally, Alexandre and Satine overbilled Medicaid in excess of $2 million in other services they did not provide.
The 45th Statewide Investigating Grand Jury recommended charges against all four individuals.
In February, Satine pleaded guilty to felony Medicaid fraud and theft by deception and was sentenced to 1½ to 5 years in state prison. He is required to pay $2.8 million dollars in restitution and previously repaid about $1.47 million to the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services in connection to this case.
Hudson pleaded guilty in 2022 to two misdemeanor counts of theft and was sentenced to four years’ supervision, with the first 11 ½ months on house arrest.
The cases were prosecuted by Senior Deputy Attorney General Benjamin McKenna.
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The Pennsylvania Medicaid Fraud Control Unit receives 75 percent of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $10,632,312 for Federal fiscal year (FY) 2024. The remaining 25 percent, totaling $3,544,100 for FY 2024, is funded by Pennsylvania.
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