St. Anthony man sentenced for Medicaid provider fraud
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The following is a news release from the Idaho Attorney General’s Office.
BOISE — Attorney General Lawrence Wasden has announced a Fremont County man was sentenced Monday, March 11, for provider fraud.
46-year-old Elwood Conica, of St. Anthony, pleaded guilty in January.
Seventh District Court Judge Stevan Thompson sentenced Conica to five years in prison. The judge ordered the defendant to pay $33,613 in restitution to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, a $500 fine, and $500 toward the cost of a public defender. Conica was also ordered to pay court costs.
An investigation revealed Conica had billed Medicaid and then misappropriated Medicaid funds that should have been used on clients’ behalf. This resulted in clients not receiving all of the required healthcare products Medicaid funding should have provided them. In some cases, patients were forced to use their own money to purchase products as a result of the gap created by Conica’s fraudulent behavior. The investigation also revealed Conica billed Medicaid for certain, more expensive products, then provided patients with an entirely different product that was not covered by Medicaid, while pocketing the difference for his own personal use.
The fraud was initially discovered in July 2016 by the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare’s Medicaid Program Integrity Unit. The case was investigated by the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Deputy Attorney General Rondee Blessing prosecuted the case.