The owner of a Wasilla disability clinic has been charged with Medicaid fraud. The Alaska Department of Law filed charges against Laura Sasseen, owner of the Mat Su Activity and Respite Center LLC on Monday, alleging falsification of business records and and misdemeanor medical assistance fraud.
The center, known by its acronym MARC, was shut down in June of this year amid an investigation.
State Assistant Attorney General Andrew Peterson, with the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit said there are two suits against Saseen. A civil suit regarding the overpayments, and a criminal suit regarding the falsification of records.
A state audit conducted in 2012 showed that MARC documents had been modified by changing hours and types of service. Auditors found that MARC billed Medicaid close to two million dollars in 2009, reaping overpayments that year of 705, 000 dollars. The state wants to recover that amount.
Peterson says Sasseen was the only person to benefit from the overcharges.
APTI Reporter-Producer Ellen Lockyer started her radio career in the late 1980s, after a stint at bush Alaska weekly newspapers, the Copper Valley Views and the Cordova Times. When the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound, Valdez Public Radio station KCHU needed a reporter, and Ellen picked up the microphone.
Since then, she has literally traveled the length of the state, from Attu to Eagle and from Barrow to Juneau, covering Alaska stories on the ground for the AK show, Alaska News Nightly, the Alaska Morning News and for Anchorage public radio station, KSKA
elockyer (at) alaskapublic (dot) org | 907.550.8446 | About Ellen
