Treatment center owner suing Arizona’s Medicaid agency for retaliation after he says he reported fraud in 2019.
Credit: 12News
PHOENIX — A man who says he tipped off Arizona’s Medicaid agency to widespread behavioral health fraud is now suing the agency, claiming they retaliated against him for coming forward.
The federal lawsuit, filed by attorney Matthew Pappas, accuses AHCCCS of deliberately withholding millions of dollars in payments from his client, John Kamau. Kamau owns a company called Arizona Integrated Telepsychiatry and Telemedicine Services, or AZITTS.
RELATED: Sober living fraud scandal cost Arizona $2.8 billion
Kamau, according to the lawsuit, alerted AHCCCS in 2019 about possible fraudulent billing practices among behavioral health providers, long before the agency publicly acknowledged the fraud in 2023.
The state has identified hundreds of businesses they accuse of billing for services never provided, even billing for dead people and, in one case, billing for alcohol rehab for a four-year-old. Most of the patients were Native American, many of whom were transported from reservations with the promise of rehab treatment.
“What AHCCCS has done is inappropriate, illegal and targeted,” Pappas told 12News.
The lawsuit alleges Kamau provided investigators with specific names and methods being used by providers who were abusing the system.
“If AHCCCS had taken action back when this fraud was first reported, taxpayers would have been saved millions, if not billions...
VICTOR VALLEY, Calif. (VVNG.com) — The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department is warning residents about a growing wave of misinformation across the county, fueled by viral social media posts ...