Superintendent Arrested For Allegedly Using Her Health Insurance To Cover Child’s Medicine

A faculty superintendent in Indiana is dealing with fraud fees after she allegedly used her medical insurance to buy medication for a unwell uninsured kid at her faculty.

Casey Smitherman, of Elwood Community Schools in Elwood, was once booked Wednesday on two counts of insurance coverage fraud, one depend of legit misconduct and one depend of identification deception earlier than being launched on bail.

In charging paperwork, Smitherman instructed government that she took the 15-year-old to peer a health care provider after figuring out he were absent from faculty as a result of a suspected case of strep throat and changing into anxious. According to the IndyStar, lives with an aged circle of relatives member who does no longer have a automotive.

In the previous, Smitherman had helped acquire clothes for and helped him blank his space, she instructed government. She stated she didn’t name the Department of Child Services as a result of she didn’t need him positioned in foster care. The DCS has since opened an investigation, in line with the charging paperwork.

After being became away by way of one health facility as a result of he lacked insurance coverage, Smitherman stated she recognized the boy as her son at any other health facility, which prescribed him Amoxicillin for his sore throat.

Her medical insurance, recognized by way of government as Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, coated the price of his remedy, which totaled $233, in line with court docket paperwork acquired by way of Fox 59 News.

In a remark to native media, Smitherman stated she knew what she did was once improper however that her best worry on the time was once for the kid’s well-being.

“As a parent, I know how serious this illness can be if left untreated, and I took him to an emergency clinic,” she stated. “I knew he did not have insurance, and I wanted to do all I could to help him get well.”

The Elwood faculty board additionally expressed beef up for her, calling it an “unfortunate mistake but we understand that it was out of concern for this child’s welfare.”

“We know she understands what she did was wrong, but she continues to have our support,” it stated.

Madison County Prosecutor Rodney Cummings stated he’ll be offering Smitherman a diversion program that can permit the fees to be dropped towards her as long as she isn’t arrested once more within the coming 12 months.

“There would have been a much easier way to handle this and still accomplish the same goal without doing some of the things that she did that were inconsistent with our laws and our values,” Cummings instructed Fox 59 News.