The owner of a Missouri home healthcare company has been indicted for allegedly defrauding the Missouri Medicaid Program and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Natavia Boyd-Wells, 40, stands accused of filing false claims to the tune of more than $800,000. According to an official announcement by the U.S. Attorney's Office, Boyd-Wells faces four counts of wire fraud and two counts of making false statements related to healthcare.
Boyd-Wells’s company, Touch of the Heart Home Health Care LLC, joined Missouri Medicaid and the Department of Veterans Affairs networks in 2020. She allegedly submitted numerous false claims for services that were never provided, including billing for patients who were hospitalized and unable to receive home care. The indictment describes a scheme to fraudulently extract funds from government healthcare programs.
The health care fraud was allegedly perpetrated in part by submitting false documentation, including during a Missouri Medicaid audit in 2022, where Boyd-Wells is said to have electronically submitted manufactured evidence of patient service. She even went as far as to claim over 24 hours of care provided in a single day in certain VA claims. The financial toll of these actions led to Missouri Medicaid disbursing at least $197,022, while the VA funded over $600,000 to Boyd-Wells’s control.
Boyd-Wells remains presumed innocent until proven guilty, but officials underscore the gravity of the allegations. Special Agent Gregory Billingsley stated, "This indictment should send a clear message that the VA Office of Inspector General will vigorously investigate those who would seek to defraud VA healthcare programs," according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The investigation was a collaborative effort between the Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General, and the Missouri Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek Wiseman prosecuting.
