Tracking the timeline of fraud investigations into Gateway Community Services
PORTLAND (WGME) – According to the Maine Department of Health and Humans Services, years-long audits have found a series of Medicaid overpayments to Gateway Community Services.
A spokesperson for DHHS confirms the agency referred Gateway to the Maine Attorney General's Office before suspending the provider's MaineCare payments.
Gateway provides behavioral health services through its main office in Portland.
DHHS would not say exactly when that referral to the AG was made.
The department performed an audit on Gateway from 2015 to 2016.
During that period, they found Medicaid overpayments of more than $100,000.
A second audit was performed from 2017 to 2018.
This time, they found overpayments of more than $500,000.
In the non-profit's most recent audit, initiated in 2023, DHHS found more than $1 million in overpayments stretching from 2021 to 2022.
It was not until late last month, December 23, that DHHS suspended their payments.
DHHS does not provide dates involving active investigations, so it’s not known exactly when the Attorney General's Office was involved.
DHHS says in some cases, it will alert law enforcement and the AG to issues before they suspend payments, as part of their investigative process, so this does align with the practices they've described in the past.
