Minnetonka Man Gets Two Years For Health Care Fraud

The operator of Universal Home Health, a home health care agency located in Golden Valley, was sentenced in Federal Court Wednesday for an offense related to defrauding Medicaid.

Mustafa Hassan Mussa, 57 of Minnetonka, was sentenced to 24 months in prison on one count of aggravated identity theft. Mussa was charged on Aug. 18 and pleaded guilty on Oct. 7.

In his plea agreement, Mussa admitted that on May 26, 2009, he knowingly caused fraudulent billings to be submitted to Medicaid. The fraudulent claims were made to the Minnesota Department of Human Services (“DHS”), which administers the federal Medicaid program here in Minnesota. The claims indicated that a personal care attendant (PCA) was providing service to a Medicaid recipients when, in fact, the Personal Care Assistant was not doing so.

The Medicaid program provides medical care and services to low-income people who meet certain income and eligibility requirements. Home health care, provided by PCAs, is one of the services reimbursed by Medicaid. The U.S. recovered more than $700,000 to be returned to the Medicaid program in connection with this matter.

These cases are the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Health and Human Services—Office of Inspector General, and the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit at the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office.

As a result of federal convictions for health care fraud, defendants are excluded from participating in federal health benefit programs, including Medicare and Medicaid. Exclusion determinations are made by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Nationwide, more than 3,000 individuals were excluded from program participation in 2010 based upon criminal convictions or patient abuse or neglect, license revocations, or other factors.