Lubbock Counselor Sentenced For Fraudulent Medicaid Billing

A professional counselor in Lubbock has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison.

Margie E. Hollingsworth was sentenced Friday to 46 months in federal prison, following her February 2012 guilty plea to one count of making a false statement in a health care matter.

According to court documents, from January 2004 through December 2009, Hollingsworth, an approved Medicaid provider, submitted a claim to Medicare for three hours of face-to-face counseling provided to a patient in Lubbock on Christmas Day 2009, when she was actually in Colorado.

According to the indictment, Hollingsworth billed services provided to Medicaid beneficiaries between $1 million and $2.5 million. Of that amount, Hollingsworth was paid more than $576,000, and of that, more than $556,700 was paid for fraudulent claims.

Hollingsworth has also been ordered to pay a $6,000 fine, in addition to restitution. She must surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on or before November 23^rd of this year.

The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Lubbock.