former Minnesota Department of Health and Human Services (DHS) employee ...FRAUD

Aug. 5, 2003, through Sept. 10, 2008, ...$903,896.54 from the State of Minnesota through Medicaid health care fraud.
Hudsonite indicted for health care fraud in Minnesota
Hudson Star-Observer
Published Wednesday, October 22, 2008

A former Minnesota Department of Health and Human Services (DHS) employee was recently indicted by a federal grand jury for health care fraud and for the alleged theft of more than $900,000 in Medicaid funds.

Kim Joann Austen, 47, Hudson was charged Oct. 7 in Minneapolis with one count of health care fraud and 22 counts of theft of health care funds. Her indictment was unsealed Wednesday following her initial appearance in Minneapolis.

Austen turned herself in to authorities Tuesday. Austen remains in custody, and a detention hearing is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Thursday at the United States Courthouse in Minneapolis.

Austen's indictment alleges that from Aug. 5, 2003, through Sept. 10, 2008, she knowingly and willfully executed a scheme to defraud Medicaid, a federal health care benefit program. It also alleges that Austen used her position to receive $903,896.54 from the State of Minnesota through Medicaid.

Austen had been a state employee since 1981, and had worked in several positions within the DHS since that time. Since approximately August 1997, Austen had been the supervisor of the Medicaid Management Information System (MMIS). The MMIS is a computerized system that processes submitted Medicaid claims for payment.

For more information see the Oct. 30 edition of the Star-Observer.