Author Archives: Admin

Counselor sentenced and manager charged for Medicaid fraud

Staff Report

Updated: An Oklahoma City counselor was sentenced Friday to a 5-year deferred sentence and ordered to pay more than $3,700 in restitution, court costs and fees for Medicaid fraud. Monday July 30, Attorney General Scott Pruitt’s Medicaid Fraud Unit filed charges against Stacy Rena Spraggins, 38, of Marietta. 

Lakisha Renee Samuel (a.k.a. Lakisha Taplin), 32, a licensed alcohol and drug counselor under supervision, pleaded no contest in Oklahoma County District Court to billing for therapy sessions that didn’t take place.   

According to the charge, while working as an independent contractor for Cornerstone Counseling & Consulting, Inc., Samuel submitted fraudulent claims for payment to the Oklahoma Health Care Authority (OHCA), the state agency that handles Medicaid funds.

During an investigation by the AG’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, patient records along with testimony from parents and foster parents revealed that clients were being billed for sessions that never occurred. One family attended five sessions, but was billed for 40.

Samuel was fired from Cornerstone Counseling & Consulting Inc., after the knowledge of her crime surfaced.

According to the charges filed in Love County District Court, Spraggins was charged with two counts of embezzlement and one count of Medicaid fraud. The charges stem from her employment as office manager for McIver Vision Clinic in Marietta. Spraggins was employed by the clinic from 2007 to 2010 and was responsible for handling the clinic’s bank deposits.

An investigation by the AG’s Medicaid Fraud Unit revealed that Spraggins purportedly embezzled funds from the clinic by cashing and keeping $6,400 in checks that were written to Dr. McIver. She also allegedly failed to deposit more than $51,000 in cash payments in the clinic’s bank account, and billed Medicaid $93,455 for eye glasses and exams that the clinic never provided.

“Our investigators and prosecutors work every day to find and stop
those who seek to take advantage of the system and misuse
taxpayer-funded programs that were designed to help Oklahomans in need,”
said Mykel Fry, chief of the AG’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.

The AG’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit is the only Oklahoma law enforcement agency dedicated to the investigation and prosecution of Medicaid fraud. The Unit helps raise awareness as well as investigates and prosecutes provider fraud and abuse of residents in Medicaid-funded nursing homes. To report Medicaid fraud or patient abuse at a Medicaid center, contact the AG’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit at (405) 522-0163.

I.O.U? No. We owe them

Michael Oberndorf

Editorial:  Did you know that since The Smartest Man in the Room took office in 2008, the federal debt, as a percentage of the Gross Domestic Product, has gone from 69.7 percent to 104.8 percent (estimated). This means that we are spending more than we produce, and the forecast is for it to continue for the next decade.  Unprecedented!  Historic!  But, as he is so fond of pointing out, he didn’t do it alone.  He had LOTS of help.

For starters, the 80 plus members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus have been with him 100 percent, spending like there’s no tomorrow. 

These are the primary culprits that Rep. Allen West (R-FL) was referring to when he said Congress was full of communists.
The Caucus tries to cover it up, but it was just a few years back that
they were openly affiliated with the Socialist International.

Formed in 1991 by openly socialist Bernie Sanders, now a senator from Vermont, its co-chairman is Muslim Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), and its membership includes such stellar intellects as Maxine “Socialize the Oil Companies” Waters (D-CA), socialist Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), the cowwupt, awwogant,  and inept Barney Frank (D-MA), the ever-so-stable Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL), and its Whip, Hank Johnson (D-GA), the man who in a public congressional hearing worried that stationing more Marines on Guam would cause it to capsize. The list contains the worst of the worst in Congress, for ignorant, out of control tax and spenders.

The rest of the Democrats, like good little Nazis, simply do as they are told, voting in lockstep with their misleadership. During the eight years of Republican (RINO) president George Bush, a man, BTW, who never encountered a spending bill he couldn’t sign, the Democrats increased the national debt $3.78 trillion. Since 2008, in just three-and-a-half years, they have increased the debt by another $6.36 trillion. Unprecedented! Historic! And disastrous.

The truly tragic and frightening part of this is that the misleadership of the Republican Party has gone along with all of it, voting to raise the debt ceiling time after time, and then wondering why things just keep getting worse. We are at a point where all of the taxes collected by the federal government cover only 65 percent of what they are spending, falling $1.33 trillion short. Even if they eliminated everything the federal government does, every department, agency, office, and military installation, every employee, including soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines, outside of its mandatory obligations – Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and a variety of welfare entitlement programs – they still would come up $8 million short.

The debt they have run up currently works out to about $51,000.00 for every man, woman, and child in America today. Thus, Barack Barry Hussein Obama-Soetoro and his mindless Marxist minions have put that ideal American family of four on the hook for some $204,000.00. In truth, it’s twice that for the 51 percent of Americans who actually work and pay the taxes. Unprecedented! Historic! And outrageous.

Back in the Middle Ages, when there were basically two classes, the feudal aristocrats and the serfs, the general rule was that in return for protection from enemies, the serfs turned one-third of what they produced over to the feudal lord.

In modern America, we have what is called “Tax Freedom Day.” This is the day when Americans have produced enough taxes to pay for government. This year, when calculated to include paying for TARP and ARRA bailout/”stimulus” money and adding in the cost of all the government regulation, it turns out that the serfs of America worked until July 15, over half the year, to pay the debt the government claims we owe them. Unprecedented! Historic! Devolution in action.

So here we are, a nation of serfs, pushed to the edge of a nation-killing economic precipice by the Marxist Fraud in the White House, the Marxist/neofascist Democrats and their neo-fascist RINO running dogs, with no way out that isn’t going to make what’s happening in Europe look like a Sunday School picnic.

The Senate, led by the corrupt Harry Reid (D-NV) has absolutely and adamantly refused to propose, much less pass, a budget for almost four years. In addition, they have, with malice aforethought, killed every single budget and jobs creation bill that has come out of the House. They rammed Obamacare, with its billions in new taxes and even more billions in new spending, down the throats of Americans, even though a large majority of voters has been against it from the start.  Come January, when the new taxes kick in, America, as a viable, solvent, sovereign nation, will begin the process of ceasing to exist. Unprecedented! Historic! Unless.

This WILL occur unless We, the People, rise up and vote in unprecedented and historic numbers and throw these treasonous, would-be New Aristocrats out of office and into the garbage where they belong.

Boaters: Be your own best lifeguard

Staff Report

Boating and swimming go hand-in-hand, but unlike a public pool or beach, boaters can’t count on a lifeguard to watch over them. As this summer’s sweltering heat wave drives more boaters to dive into the deep blue, the BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety has these seven swimming tips:

1. Always ensure the engine is off. The best way to do this is to remove the key from the ignition, leaving it in plain view so everyone knows it won’t start. 

2. At marinas, stray electric current from poorly maintained boat electrical and shore power systems can kill swimmers. Three separate marina electrocution incidents over the July 4 holiday left four kids and one adult dead, and injured several others who had tried to come to their rescue.

3. Never dive in head first before confirming the water depth. Mistakenly diving into a shallow, mucky bottom may simply leave you bruised and looking more like the creature of black lagoon. However, diving head first into hard sandy bottom, rock or underwater obstruction could put you in a wheelchair. Deploy a boarding ladder first and ease yourself in to confirm water depth.

4. Never swim alone. If you’re in the middle of the lake and swimming alone, there’s no safety backstop in case you have a problem – which could be nearby boaters unaware of you.

5. It’s always a good idea to have a life jacket or floating seat cushion close by (and tied to the boat) that swimmers can easily reach while in the water, or simply hang a dock line over the side. And even if you’re a good swimmer, wearing a life jacket while in the water makes you nearly drown-proof.

6. Never swim under a boat’s swim platform or near any boat with the engine running. You could strike the running gear or fall victim to carbon monoxide poisoning – it only takes a few whiffs of CO to leave swimmers incapacitated or unconscious. Also stay away from generator exhaust ports.

7. When boats and swimmers collide, boats always win.  You’re simply asking for trouble if you swim in navigation channels or marinas.  Also never swim in area with strong river or tidal currents, which can swiftly sweep swimmers away from the boat.

For more information on boating safety programs from the BoatUS Foundation, such as the free Online Boating Safety Course or free Kid’s Life Jacket Loaner Program, go to www.BoatUS.com/Foundation.  

Olympic memorial for 1972 Israeli athletes at Trafalgar Square

Staff Report

As the opening ceremonies get underway in London for the 2012 Summer Olympics, around 400 people gathered in Trafalgar Square Friday to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the brutal killing of 11 Israeli athletes and coaches at the 1972 Games in Munich.
 
The event was organized by the British Israel Coalition and was “a response to the International Olympic Committee’s sustained refusal to include a minute of silence in the opening ceremony due to be held tonight,” according to a statement released by the group early Friday.

An international drive to hold a moment of silence during the opening ceremonies in honor of the slain Israelis was rebuffed by the IOC on numerous occasions, including Wednesday night when two widows of murdered Israeli team members from the 1972 Games met with IOC President Jacques Rogge.
 
“We wanted to do this because it was right to take a public stand,” Ari Soffer, Director of the British Israel Coalition, told The Algemeiner. “The majority were definitely British but there were quite a lot of people involved – Americans, Canadians, a Korean group.  They saw the event and expressed interest.”
 
The BIC is a grassroots movement, which Soffer describes as “a pluralistic group with a pro-Israel initiative.”
 
We’re a  “pan-political, pan-religious [group].  It’s not Jewish, it’s not Christian.  We have membership across the religious and political spectrum and our mission is to fight the delegitimization of Israel in the United Kingdom…and at the same time, basically be the British voice for Israel in a proactive way.”
 
Attendees inside Trafalgar Square recited the Jewish prayer, Kaddish, while the national anthems of Britain and Israel were performed as well. 

Six questions on statewide November ballot, with one initiative still circulating

Patrick B. McGuigan

At least six ballot measures will appear on the November 2012 statewide general election ballot in Oklahoma. In numeric order of those already qualified, there are State Questions 758, 759, 762, 764, 765 and 766.  Each proposal in this group came to the ballot through legislative action.
 
One citizen initiative to change the state constitution to allow sale of wine in grocery stores could still secure a spot on the November ballot. Two other petitions have been stricken – one by state Supreme Court edict, the other because activists did not gather enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.

S.Q. 758 would amend the state constitution (Article 10) to limit ad valorem (real property) tax hikes to 3 percent of “fair cash value.”  The 3 percent limit would displace the current limit of 5 percent on annual hikes.
 
S.Q. 758 was sent to the general election ballot in 2011 after the Legislature approved House Joint Resolution 2011, sponsored by then-Senator Jim Reynolds and state Rep. David Dank, both Oklahoma City Republicans.
 
S.Q. 759 came to the ballot after the Legislature approved Senate Joint Resolution 759, co-sponsored by state Sen. Rob Johnson of Kingfisher and state Rep. Leslie Osborn of Tuttle.
 
In the final ballot title, crafted after review by Attorney General Scott Pruitt, states the measure “deals with three areas of government action.  These areas are employment, education and contracting.  In these areas, the measure does not allow affirmative action programs.  Affirmative action programs give preferred treatment based on race, color or gender. They also give preferred treatment based on ethnicity or national origin.  Discrimination on these bases is also not permitted. The measure permits affirmative action in three instances.  1. When gender is a bonafide qualification, it is allowed.  2.  Existing court orders and consent decrees that require preferred treatment will continue and can be followed.  3. Affirmative action is allowed when needed to keep or obtain federal funds.  The measure applies to the State and its agencies. It applies to counties, cities and towns.  It applies to school districts.  It applies to other State subdivisions.  The measure applies only to actions taken after its approval by the people.”
 
This question might become the most controversial of statewide proposals on this year’s ballot, as activist liberal groups have begun to organize against the proposition.
 
S.Q. 762 came to the ballot as result of legislative passage of Senate Joint Resolution 25, a measure that was part of the “Justice Reinvestment” drive led by House Speaker Kris Steele of Shawnee and state Sen. Josh Brecheen of Coalgate. This measure would remove the governor from pardon and parole decisions for nonviolent offenders, and make other changes to state law.
 
State Question 764 would allow creation of a “water infrastructure credit enhancement reserve fund” for bond issues in limited circumstances for “certain water resource and sewage treatment” programs. The proposal was part of the long-range water plans developed at the Legislature this year. Sponsors of House Joint Resolution 1085, the underlying legislation, were state Sen. Brian Crain of Tulsa and state Rep. Phil Richardson of Minco.
 
Another ballot measure with significant policy implications is S.Q. 765, the revision to fundamental state law that would repeal the constitutional Human Services Commission and create legislative authority to provide a new, reformed framework for the agency (click here for background).  State Sen. Greg Treat of Oklahoma City joined with Speaker Steele in pressing for this proposal.
 
After several years of work that began when current-Secretary of State Glenn Coffee (click here for background) was Senate President Pro Temp, S.Q. 766 comes to the ballot. It would exempt “all intangible personal property from property tax.  No person, family or business would pay a tax on intangible property.  The change would apply to all tax years beginning on and after January 1, 2013.” This measure resulted from the collaboration of state Sen. Mike Mazzei of Tulsa and state Rep. Dank of Oklahoma City.
 
The one citizen ballot initiative that could still make the November ballot will, if sufficient signatures are gathered, be designated S.Q. 763. The measure “Would permit counties with more than 50,000 residents to have the option of holding an election that would allow the sale of wine in grocery stores.” In a pre-circulation review of the initiative, the state Supreme Court determined it was “sufficient” on June 28.
 
Activists supporting the idea have until September to gather enough names to gain ballot status for the proposal.
 
A “personhood” ballot initiative was “ordered void on its face and stricken” by the state High Court this spring.
 
Another initiative crafted by departing state Sen. Jim Wilson, a Tahlequah Democrat, would have created new standards for legislative and congressional redistricting, but initiative petition gatherers did not get enough valid names to gain ballot status. Wilson has pressed the idea after an earlier lawsuit against the current state Senate districts was slapped down.

About the Author: McGuigan is author of “The Politics of Direct Democracy: Case Studies in Popular Decision Making” (1985).  He is long a contributor for Tulsa Today and has served as Capital Editor over several years. For complete information on state ballot questions nationwide this year, visit ballotpedia.com and click on “ballot measures.”