An Independence woman defrauded Health Midwest's employee health plan of $120,000, so now she'll do three years and four months in prison, U.S. Attorney Bradley Schlozman's office reported. Cheri Smith, 37, worked for the claims department at Health Midwest Comprehensive Care. From the press release:
Smith accessed the computer database containing the names of employees covered by the pharmacy benefits program, and changed valid member names to those of her own family members, friends, and other persons who were not Health Midwest employees and not entitled to receive benefits. Smith then entered false pharmacy claims for those bogus employees and caused checks to be issued to them. After cashing the checks, the persons in whose names they were fraudulently issued typically provided a portion of the proceeds back to Smith.
