CHARLESTON, SC — A South Carolina woman was convicted of health care fraud in federal court for billing the government for fraudulent speech therapy services.
Sometimes the dead speak. Due to the natural process of decay, they often do not do so clearly.
They need speech therapy. That's where Gena Randolph comes in.
According to the US District Attorney's Office, Randolph regularly provided speech therapy service for dead folks, as well as billing federal health care programs for therapy provided by others, and therapy that was never provided by anyone, anywhere.
The 44-year-old Mount Pleasant, SC woman, who was convicted in 2012 of filing false Medicare claims, "was prohibited from working for any provider to perform services paid for, in whole or in part, by Medicare and Medicaid," so she disguised her involvement with Palmetto Speech and Language Associates and Per Diem Healthcare Services, both of which she used to do her dirty deeds.
I think that the feds should have been suspicious right off the bat. Per diem is Latin for "my ass has to get paid every day."
Federal prosecutors allege that the fraud amounted to $2 million.
And the South Carolina dead still gurgle their glottal stops and spray their aspirated consonants.
Randolph was convicted of a single count of health care fraud, another count of aggravated identity theft, and four counts of making false statements.
She faces up to 30 years.
Let's hope she maxes it out like a credit card.
