Tennessee counselor Mechele Toles guilty of health care fraud

May 14, 2013

On March 25, 2013, Tennessee counselor Mechell D. Toles pleaded guilty to a federal charge of health care fraud. According to the press release from the U.S. Department of Justice, Toles’ main source of patients was referrals from the county juvenile court. Hundreds of these juvenile patients were enrolled in the state’s Medicaid program, Tenncare. On numerous occasions, Toles billed Tenncare for more than 24 hours of service in a day. The investigation also showed that she bill for services for patients before the patient had been referred to her as well as for services after she had discharged patients, among other things.