Kay Le Farmer, who lives in Katy, has been indicted for defrauding Medicaid of more than $600,000.
Her ex-husband is a licensed professional counselor, who operated a practice in West Houston from 2009 to 2013. Ms. Farmer and the counselor were married from 2000 to 2014. They separated in 2013 and divorced the following year.
From 2012 until 2013, Ms. Farmer was the office manager for the practice and had access to patient information as well as the practice’s billing records. In June 2013, it is alleged she began billing Medicaid for services not provided by her now ex-husband. She channeled the funds received to a newly-opened bank account that she controlled.
The fraud continued even after Ms. Farmer began employment as an office manager with a Pediatrician in Katy. Between November 2017 and March 2018, she submitted claims for 25 patients associated with the Pediatrician for psychotherapy services purportedly provided by her ex-husband.
In total, from June 2013 until June 2018 Ms. Farmer billed Medicaid $617,000. She was paid about $475,000, which she then transferred to her personal accounts.
In 2018, when one of the insurance companies requested records from Ms. Farmer regarding services billed, she requested a records extension and falsely claimed her ex-husband had suffered a massive stroke and was in hospital.
If convicted, Farmer faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 maximum fine for each count of health care fraud. She was indicted on 22 counts (each count represents a specific fraudulent claim made in 2017 or 2018).