Fourteen Employees at New Jersey Company Fires 14 Employees for Public Health Insurance ‘Scam’:
Maximus Inc., a private New Jersey-based company that holds a $47 million state contract to process applications for FamilyCare, the state's separate, non-Medicaid health plan for low-income families, fired 14 employees in June for "improperly enrolling themselves ahead of thousands waiting for coverage," the Newark Star-Ledger reports. According to Maximus project director Marion Reitz, the employees used a "variety of deceptive ways" to enroll in FamilyCare, such as using false names to obtain coverage for themselves and their families or reporting fictional children to meet the plan's eligibility requirements -- a maximum income of $2,842 per month for a family of four, or nearly 200% of the federal poverty level. Maximus has referred the problem to the state Attorney General's office, which has considered filing criminal charges, Reitz said. In addition, New Jersey
Human Services Department spokesperson Cece Lentini said that the agency has launched a separate investigation, although she would not "confirm or deny" whether the agency planned a criminal probe. Reitz said that Birch & Davis, the first company that contracted with FamilyCare, had employed eight of the 14 employees, who had "begun the scam before Maximus took over" in January. In addition, Reitz said that Maximus has established a system of "checks and balances in the system to make sure this isn't happening anymore." The state Human Services Department has approved the new system. "Overall, Maximus has had to deal with a lot of situations no one anticipated," Lentini said, adding, "They took over the program after it had gotten started. It's been a hard road, but we have been reasonably satisfied with every step they have taken." In nine months, New Jersey has enrolled 121,000 adults in FamilyCare -- a program designed to serve 125,000 individuals over three years -- and 30,000 additional residents have applications pending (Livio, Newark Star-Ledger, 8/1).
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