Rockland Mental Health Association forced to pay $304,000 for Medicaid misrepresentations

The Mental Health Association of Rockland County has settled with the State Attorney General’s Office for doctoring records prior to a state audit, but will not face criminal charges.

According to a statement released by Attorney General Eric Schneiderman on Monday, the MHA admitted to 40 handwritten changes to records in an attempt to make them appear to have been sent to the state’s Medicaid program. The alterations were made prior to a 2009 state audit of the nonprofit’s records and covered figures from 2003 to 2008.

Though the MHA will not be charged criminally, it will have to pay $304,000 to the state, $250,000 of which will resolve claims for penalties.

The changes went unnoticed until 2009, when two whistleblowers who once worked for the MHA included the information in a lawsuit against the nonprofit. According to current MHA President Stephanie Madison, who was not in charge at the time of the doctoring, the organization has “cooperated fully” with the Attorney General’s investigation and made changes to its corporate compliance, record-keeping and audit oversight.