Mental health counselor gets 30 days jail; billed Medicaid for rap concert

October 13, 2010

A counselor found out the hard way that Idaho Medicaid doesn't pay for rap concerts.

The state attorney general's office says 26-year-old Lindsay A. Nelson billed Medicaid last year for counseling two boys when he actually took them to see the Kottonmouth Kings perform.

The agency says Nelson, who works in psychosocial rehabilitation, was sentenced Friday in Idaho's 1st District Court to 30 days in jail after pleading guilty to one count of Medicaid provider fraud.

Authorities say Nelson billed Idaho Medicaid last year for providing individual counseling services for the two boys.

A state investigation later determined that the service Nelson provided consisted of him taking a group, which included the two boys, to the rap concert in nearby Spokane, Wash.

Source: "Idaho counselor sentenced for Medicaid fraud," Associated Press, October 8, 2010.