Mental health provider sued over Medicaid billing

Federal prosecutors and the Minnesota Attorney General announced Tuesday they were suing a Minnesota mental health provider for defrauding the Medicaid program over nearly a decade.

Complementary Support Services, based in Richfield, offers mental health diagnostic evaluations, psychotherapy, and skills training across the Twin Cities and greater Minnesota. The company allegedly defrauded Medicaid by violating clinical supervision requirements, according to the civil complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis.

Authorities say the company, run by Teri Dimond and Herbert Stockley, failed to provide licensed supervisors since 2007. The complaint alleges Dimond, a licensed supervisor, "batch signed" all progress notes on patients in order to bill the Medicaid program without actually seeing the patients.

The company submitted more than 85,000 claims for payment, each ranging from about $77 to about $260, according to the complaint. The complaint does not specify the total amount of fraud.

Dimond and Stockley also allegedly added "billable documentation time" for each client visit, resulting in additional billable services to the program.

The offices of the U.S. Attorney and the Attorney General declined to comment further.

Dimond and Stockley could not be reached for comment.

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