Sioux City mental health counselor pleads guilty to theft, fraud

SIOUX CITY — A Sioux City mental health counselor has pleaded guilty of defrauding a health insurance company and Iowa's Medicaid program.

Amy Hecht, 40, entered her written plea Jan. 13 in Woodbury County District Court to single counts of second-degree theft and third-degree fraudulent practice. As part of a plea agreement, 12 counts of fraudulent submission to an insurer and one count of tampering with records will be dismissed.

A sentencing date has not been set. According to terms of her plea agreement, Hecht will receive either a suspended or deferred sentence on the theft charge, and a two-year prison sentence on the fraudulent practice charge will be suspended. She will be placed on probation, required to perform community service work and fined a total of $1,880. She also agreed to pay $5,372.50 in restitution to Blue Cross and Blue Shield, $5,624.12, which includes investigation costs, to Iowa's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and $400 to Alyssa Panck.

Hecht was arrested Sept. 9 after an investigation by the Iowa Insurance Division's Fraud Bureau and the Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit determined she provided false medical codes on patients' bills to provide additional reimbursement from Aug. 10, 2021, to Nov. 8, 2023.

According to court documents, Hecht created 261 false records by intentionally inputting false entries into medical records and submitted fraudulent claims for 12 Foundations Mental Health Center patients.