Trouble involving Medicaid and providers within the Madison Parish Hospital Service District are continuing into November, with the latest decision handed down from the state regarding the nurse practitioner whose case has been at the center of the hospital’s 14-month-long legal battles.
According to officials with the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH), nurse practitioner Latayatacha Freeman-Ross was denied an appeal that would have allowed her to continue working in conjunction with the Medicaid program in Louisiana.
“On 11/01/2023 LDH’s Program Integrity (PI) office sent Freeman-Ross and her legal counsel notice of the results of the informal hearing, and LDH’s intent to exclude her from participating in the Medicaid Program,” LDH officials told the Journal. “The notice also informed Freeman-Ross of her appeal rights and advised that Freeman-Ross is suspended from participation in the Medicaid Program, effective 11/01/2023, during the pendency of the administrative appeals process.”
LDH went on describe what typically causes such a ruling, saying, “payment suspension occurs when the director of Medicaid and the director of Program Integrity determine that allowing a provider to continue to participate in the Medicaid Program during the pendency of the administrative appeal process poses a threat to the programmatic or fiscal integrity of the Medicaid Program; or poses a potential threat to health, welfare or safety of Medicaid recipients, pursuant to Louisiana Administrative Code 50:I.4211(C).”
Following the appeal, a 100-percent ban on billing Medicaid was also reimposed on the Madison Parish Rural Health Clinic (RHC). The ban on billing Medicaid – which accounts for a vast majority of the clinic’s billing, according to those close to the operation – was first handed down in February by LDH in a letter to Madison Parish Hospital (MPH) Interim CEO Dr. Donald Perry.
According to the letter dated January 20, 2023, the LDH Bureau of Health Services Financing stated the State Medicaid agency “must suspend all Medicaid payments to a provider after the agency determines there is a credible allegation of fraud for which an investigation is pending under the Medicaid program against an individual or entity unless the agency has good cause to not suspend payments or to suspend payment only in part.”
The letter laid out the suspension’s details, explaining it applied only to the RHC and Medicaid, while not affecting Medicare payments, and applies “to all Medicaid claims submitted” adding, “any attempt to avoid this payment suspension action by submitting claims for services performed under this (RHC provider) number through other agencies or other billing numbers shall result in termination.”
While the ban was eased to a 50-percent suspension in the months since the original letter, the 100-percent ban has been reinforced following the appeals decision regarding Freeman-Ross.
Since the decision, word of patients unable to fill prescriptions written by Freeman-Ross, or make appointments to see her in the clinic, were reportedly met with a number of recommendations from inside the hospital, including advising patients to seek out alternative providers.
Problems surrounding Freeman-Ross and Medicaid first appeared after her employment was terminated by former MPH CEO Dr. Ted Topolewski in 2022 on the grounds the nurse practitioner was defrauding the hospital. Following several meetings between Freeman-Ross, her legal counsel (now MPH Chief Compliance Officer Felicia Toney-Williams) and the Madison Parish Police Jury – the governing body overseeing the hospital’s board – several board members were replaced, Topolewski was terminated, and Freeman-Ross was rehired.
In January, then-MPH RHC Medical Director Dr. Thomas Neumann resigned, citing problems with the hospital’s overall leadership and pointing to the fraud allegations against Freeman-Ross as reasons for his decision to step down.
Neumann’s letter was sent to Perry, Madison Journal, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry’s office, the State of Louisiana Medicaid/Medicare Fraud Division, MPH legal counsel Sullivan, Stolier, Schulze Law Firm and Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners President Lester Johnson.
While MPH’s ability to bill Medicaid was originally suspended in February, in June, officials with the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) division of the Louisiana Attorney General's office were present on the MPH campus removing documents and other items from the hospital.
In October, the MFCU arrested Courtney Moberley, 46, and Chasity Isaac, 36, both of Tallulah, and charged each with one count of Medicaid fraud and one count of filing/maintaining false public records.
According to sources close to the situation, Moberley served as a nurse practitioner and Isaac as a nurse, both associated with the Kidmed pediatrics program, a division of Medicaid.
The Louisiana State Adverse Actions List currently names Freeman-Ross as prohibited indefinitely pursuant to LAC 50:I.4211(C).
The Madison Journal attempted to reach out to Perry for comment on the ongoing suspensions and investigations regarding both Freeman-Ross and Medicaid as a whole; however, as of press time Tuesday, no response had been given.
According to officials with Louisiana Attorney General’s office, the investigation is ongoing.
