by: Juliana Lepore
NEW LONDON, Conn. (WTNH) — A former Southeastern Connecticut counselor, Jeffrey Slocum, 56, was sentenced to one year of house arrest followed by two years of probation for committing health care fraud.
Slocum, a licensed professional counselor (LPC), operated an office in New London from 2017 to 2022. In 2020, the Connecticut Medicaid program initiated an audit of claims Slocum had billed to them for services rendered between March 2018 and February 2020.
The audit uncovered that Slocum had received over $225,000 in Medicaid payments for services he had not properly documented. As a result, Slocum was required to repay the amount to Medicaid. Following the audit, he began submitting fraudulent claims for psychotherapy services he had not provided, further exacerbating his fraudulent activity.
Additionally, Slocum was found to have offered kickbacks to Medicaid patients in the form of cash, money orders, and Walmart and VISA gift cards, incentivizing them to continue receiving services from him.
In addition to house arrest and probation, Slocum was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $695,048 to Medicaid for the fraudulent claims he had submitted.