Vernon Counselors Charged With Medicaid Fraud

June 18--Two women who worked at a Vernon counseling service are accused of bilking the state by improperly billing for Medicaid reimbursement.

Dana L. DeCillis, 38, of Southwick, Mass., and Shawna J. Schnitzke, 36, of Old Stafford Road in Tolland, were arrested Wednesday, according to a spokesman for the chief state's attorney's office in Rocky Hill.

DeCillis, who operated Blissful Journeys Psychotherapy LLC, 49 Hartford Turnpike in Vernon, was charged with first-degree larceny by defrauding a public community, criminal attempt to commit second-degree larceny by defrauding a public community and insurance fraud, said spokesman Mark A. Dupuis.

Schnitzke was charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree larceny by defrauding a public community, conspiracy to commit second-degree larceny by defrauding a public community and insurance fraud, he said.

According to the arrest warrant affidavit, DeCillis was authorized to bill Medicaid for counseling she provided as a licensed professional counselor. Schnitzke, an unlicensed social worker, was not, however.

The two women agreed to bill Medicaid for counseling provided by Schnitzke by claiming DeCillis had done the work, the warrant says. The women used patient Medicaid information to bill for visits and services that never occurred, and even bragged to others that they had come up with a way to get paid for much more work than actually was performed, Dupuis said.

The fraudulent billings cost the Medicaid program $30,423, according to the warrant.

First-degree larceny by defrauding a public community and conspiracy to commit first-degree larceny by defrauding a public community are both class B felonies punishable by up to 20 years in prison, Dupuis said.

Second-degree larceny by defrauding a public community and conspiracy to commit second-degree larceny by defrauding a public community are both class C felonies punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

Insurance fraud is a class D felony punishable by up to 5 years in prison.

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