Former Health Plan Director Indicted for Fraud Charges

Fraud charges in South Florida

  • The Justice Department announced charges against a former executive at HealthSun Health Plans Inc. for her role in a multimillion-dollar Medicare fraud scheme in Florida.
  • In addition, the Justice Department announced that it has declined prosecution of HealthSun for its prompt voluntary self-disclosure, cooperation, and remediation.
  • Kenia Valle Boza, 39, of Miami, formerly the Director of Medicare Risk Adjustment Analytics at HealthSun, allegedly orchestrated a scheme to submit false and fraudulent information to CMS to increase the amount that HealthSun received for certain Medicare Advantage enrollees.
  • To increase the company’s profits and their own compensation, Valle and her co-conspirators are alleged to have knowingly submitted and caused the submission to CMS of false and fraudulent information about chronic ailments that Medicare beneficiaries.
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Former correctional facility worker sentenced for forgery

  • A former employee at the Adirondack Correctional Facility in New York pleaded guilty to a felony charge for submitting 28 forged doctors’ notes to her employer to get sick leave benefits over a four-month period.
  • Kathleen Baeder was charged with attempted criminal possession of a forged instrument after extending her sick leave and for receiving $4,500 in benefits from the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.
  • Baeder worked as a civilian employee at the medium-security prison for men in Ray Brook, between Saranac Lake and Lake Placid.
  • She was sentenced to 5 years of probation and ordered to pay $4,593 in restitution.
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The NSC Safety Congress Meets to Hash Out Safety Concerns in the Workplace 

  • The NSC Safety Congress met in New Orleans to discuss workplace safety. They found that, for the 13th year in a row, fall protection remains the top-cited OSHA violation.
  • Hazard communication, personal protection equipment, ladders, scaffolding, and fall protection training requirements follow closely behind on the list of cited violations.
  • In accordance with the Hazard Communication standard, OSHA officials plan to unveil a new Infectious Disease standard for healthcare settings, focus on heat illness prevention, and address workplace violence in healthcare.
  • The NSC Safety Congress focused on DEI specifically this year, most notably concerns with women in safety. Several female speakers touched on the role of men in opening doors for women in the workplace and supporting, attracting, and promoting women in construction.
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Construction worker injured at former cafe

  • A construction worker was rescued from the old Railroad Cafe after part of the foundation collapsed in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
  • The East Rutherford Fire Department was called to 170 Union Ave. just after 1:30 p.m. after getting word that there had been a wall collapse and someone was trapped, a Facebook post said.
  • When safety teams arrived, crews found three workers in the basement, with one pinned beneath the collapsed wall and the basement floor slab.
  • The building that housed the former restaurant had been purchased by a developer and was being renovated.
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