Woman sentenced for Medicaid fraud

COEUR d’ALENE — A Bonners Ferry woman was given a suspended prison sentence and ordered to serve 45 days in jail for Medicaid fraud, the Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden announced on Tuesday.

Coral Marlene Mouser was also ordered to pay $12,465 in restitution to the Idaho Department of Health & Welfare and fined $5,000.

Judge Benjamin Simpson imposed the suspended five-year sentence during a hearing in 1st District Court on Monday.

Mouser, a 35-year-old personal care provider, was accused of submitting bogus progress notes in 2007 for in-home care which she did not provide. The fraudulent notes caused losses to the Idaho Medicaid Program, the AG’s office said.

Medicaid uses state and federal taxpayer dollars to provide health care for more than 200,000 residents who are poor, disabled or elderly.

The case was investigated by the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and prosecuted by Deputy AG Kendal McDevitt at the request of the Boundary County prosecutor.

Mouser was charged in April with three felony counts of provider fraud and one count of forgery, according to the Idaho Supreme Court Data Repository.

Mouser waived her right to a preliminary hearing and was bound over to stand trial in district court. A settlement agreement was subsequently reached and Mouser pleaded guilty in May to fraudulently presenting a false claim for services.