Rachel Collins, a licensed professional counselor, owned a practice in North Haven, Conn., according to a Feb. 24 news release from the Justice Department. In August, Ms. Collins pleaded guilty to one count of healthcare fraud.
According to the Justice Department, between 2018 and 2024, Ms. Collins submitted fraudulent Medicaid claims. In some cases, Ms. Collins billed for more than 24 hours of services in a day. In one instance, according to the Justice Department, Ms. Collins billed Medicaid for 96 claims in one week. During the time period when these claims were submitted, multiple photos on her public social media account showed her vacationing in Disney World.
From 2020 to 2023, Ms. Collins was Connecticut’s highest-paid behavioral health clinician in Medicaid, per the Justice Department. In total, Ms. Collins submitted more than 17,000 false claims for more than $1.6 million in fraudulent payments.
A judge ordered Ms. Collins to repay the full amount. She was sentenced to 36 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release.