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Last updated on Monday, November 12, 2012
(BROWNSTOWN) - 26-year-old Kasey Scott, of Seymour, pleaded guilty to Medicaid fraud and neglect of a dependent received a four-year prison term Thursday in Jackson Circuit Court in Brownstown.
Aubrey Woods, of The Tribune reports, Circuit Judge Bill Vance ordered Scott to serve one year of the sentence on home detention and the remaining three years on supervised probation. She pleaded guilty to the charges Oct. 3.
The plea agreement called for Scott to serve two-year terms for each count consecutively.
Scott, a licensed practical nurse, was arrested in May after an investigation conducted by state Medicaid Fraud Control Unit investigator David G. Meachum.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Scott was employed by a home respite-care agency and hired by a Jackson County family to care for their severely disabled 7-year-old son at home during daytime shifts while the parents were at work.
The affidavit states the care plan Scott was to follow was supposed to provide physical therapy, exercise and interaction and monitor the child's vital signs when he experienced seizures.
Because of concerns about the level of care Scott provided, the mother set up a hidden camera to secretly record video. The video reportedly showed that on June 5 and 6, 2011, Scott provided only a minimal level of care to the boy - feeding, diapering and administering medication. Otherwise, she left the blind, disabled child lying on a couch for hours with no human interaction while she read or watched TV, the affidavit says.
Additionally, Scott reportedly submitted nurse's notes and paperwork claiming she had completed care and therapy tasks the video showed she had not.
Because of her false records, her employer, Loving Care Agency of Indianapolis, unknowingly submitted false claims to Medicaid for reimbursement that the program paid, the affidavit says.
When the mother reported the lack of care, the agency fired Scott.
In its role of assisting law enforcement agencies with complaints of patient abuse and neglect, the Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit investigated the case for the Jackson County prosecutor's office.
The Attorney General's Office also filed an administrative licensing complaint against Scott's LPN license with the Indiana State Board of Nursing. Her license, issued Sept. 26, 2006, expired at the end of October, although there also is an emergency suspension on her license, as well.
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