who's actually running the home

A grand jury in Anchorage has charged the operators of three Anchorage group homes with billing Alaska Medicaid almost $15 million over five years, according to the Anchorage Daily News. Assisted living homes are licensed under state law to house Alaskans who cannot live independently, and Medicaid typically pays for their care, which means the people most affected are the residents whose daily care depends on that funding.

State law requires every licensed home to have an approved program administrator before it can bill Medicaid at all. Prosecutors say the administrator for these three homes left the position in 2019, but the billing continued anyway, for services that allegedly were not provided, were understaffed, or were barely documented.

The case points to a practical question for any family choosing a home for a loved one: who runs the home, and is that administrator on file with the state. Alaska requires every licensed home to have one, and that is information a family can ask for before placing someone in care.

The charges are allegations, not convictions, and the operators will have their case heard in court.