The owner of a St. Louis-based home healthcare company has pleaded guilty to defrauding the Missouri Medicaid Program and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs out of more than $209,000.
Natavia Boyd-Wells, 41, admitted in U.S. District Court that she submitted hundreds of false reimbursement claims while operating Touch of the Heart Home Health Care LLC. The fraudulent claims were made to both Missouri Medicaid and the VA Community Care Network, which fund home healthcare services intended to help patients remain at home rather than in hospitals or nursing facilities.
According to court documents, Boyd-Wells filed claims for services on dates when veteran patients were hospitalized and could not have received home care. She also knowingly submitted claims for services that were never provided and lacked any required documentation.
In February 2022, an audit by Missouri Medicaid officials requested records supporting Boyd-Wells’ claimed services for a Medicaid patient. She admitted there was no documentation and that she subsequently submitted fraudulent paperwork in response to the audit request.
Boyd-Wells’ actions between June 2020 and November 2024 resulted in losses of at least $109,751 to Missouri Medicaid and $100,563 to the VA.
The case was investigated by the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General and the Missouri Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek Wiseman is handling the prosecution.
