PHOENIX — An Arizona grand jury indicted a man last month on charges of alleged illegal patient brokering, the Arizona Attorney General’s Office announced Thursday.
Corey Beckhum, 41, was indicted Oct. 23 on one count of conspiracy and unlawful consideration for the referral of patients.
Beckhum allegedly told an Arizona Medicaid-funded behavioral health facility he would provide patients in exchange for payments while housing them in four unlicensed sober living homes between Sept. 29 and Oct. 16.
He was arrested before search warrants were served Oct. 16 at the unlicensed homes. Investigators found the 16 people living in unsanitary conditions, according to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office.
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Officials with the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS), the state’s Medicaid system, helped connect those 16 people to proper care and licensed facilities with legitimate care and housing.
Why is the Medicaid-crackdown happening now?
The indictment follows Gov. Katie Hobbs’ and other top state officials’ promise six months ago to crackdown on Medicaid billing fraud, specifically on illegitimate group homes.
The Hobbs administration said many of those homes target tribal community members and have defrauded the state out of hundreds of millions of dollars.
An investigation led to the AHCCCS suspending payments to more than 100 providers.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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