MAPOC member at center of state lawsuit says she won't resign

The woman at the center of Attorney General William Tong’s lawsuit accusing a Watertown therapy company of Medicaid overbilling said Monday she has no plans to resign from the state’s Medicaid oversight committee.

Catherine Risigo Wickline is the target of a complaint alleging she and her company, Therapy Unlimited LLC, engaged in “pervasive and illegal schemes” to inflate claims and overbill Connecticut’s Medicaid program and the state employee health plan by millions of dollars for children’s occupational and physical therapy services. Tong’s office also accused Wickline of using unlicensed staff, including a fitness trainer and a former intern.

Wickline said Monday that despite the lawsuit, which was filed about two weeks ago at Superior Court in Hartford, she plans to keep her seat on the state’s Medical Assistance Program Oversight Council. The panel monitors Connecticut’s Medicaid and HUSKY programs and advises the Department of Social Services on eligibility standards, quality measures and health care access, among other issues.

“I’m planning on staying. I did nothing wrong,” Wickline said. “I represent independent groups on that committee and I think it’s really important to continue to represent them.”

Read more: https://ctmirror.org/2019/07/29/mapoc-member-at-center-of-state-lawsuit-says-she-wont-resign/