News: Louisiana mental health specialist convicted of Medicare fraud

Chassidy Bell of Shreveport, Louisiana, has been convicted of aiding and abetting healthcare fraud, according to a federal press release.

Bell was a former mental health specialist at Community Health Care Solutions (Community Health), a licensed mental health rehabilitation provider in Caddo Parish. Her work was conducted under the organization’s Crisis Intervention Services (CIS) group at Community Health.

According to the Western District of Louisiana Law Office, Bell began creating false progress notes for patients in June 2019, reporting “very specific behaviors on the part of the individual,” and a set of “crisis scenarios” that Bell, apparently, gave feedback upon. However, as the press release noted:

…this individual did not exist but rather his identity had been assigned to an undercover Medicaid card for a fictitious individual that law enforcement had provided to an associate of Community Health in exchange for payment. Bell created the fictitious notes stating she was providing Crisis Intervention Services for this individual and Community Health billed Medicaid for the services that she had not rendered to him.

Bell also provided false progress notes for other individuals enrolled in the CIS group, as well as inflated her hours of service to maximize billing.

Bell’s fraudulent claims totaled to $63,441.32, and she faces a sentence of no more than 25 years in prison, with three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. Her sentencing date is April 24, 2024.

Editor’s note: To read the Louisiana press release, click here.