A former nurse practitioner has been sentenced to 3.5 years in an Arizona jail for a health-care billing scheme.
Rita Anagho, 54, was sentenced last week after pleading guilty to charges filed by the attorney general’s office regarding the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System.
The defendant ran TUSA Integrated Clinic, which claimed to offer alcohol and drug addiction treatment.
According to the attorney general’s office, Anagho billed AHCCCS for unnecessary treatments or for deceased members. “Anagho’s scheme deprived legitimate Medicaid beneficiaries of critical resources and, by exploiting an already vulnerable population, contributed to Arizona’s large-scale behavioral health crisis,” the agency stated.
Anagho was one of numerous suppliers suspended by state officials in 2023 as part of an investigation into AHCCCS-related fraud.
The defendant has already agreed to pay $55 million in compensation in another federal lawsuit involving bogus AHCCCS claims. Anagho previously pled guilty in federal court to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud. She is awaiting punishment in the federal case.
Anagho had her nursing license canceled last year.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes stated that since 2023, her office has gotten over 100 indictments for alleged health-care fraud schemes.
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