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

A college superintendent in Indiana is going through 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, used to be booked Wednesday on two counts of insurance coverage fraud, one rely of legitimate misconduct and one rely of id deception ahead of being launched on bail.

In charging paperwork, Smitherman advised government that she took the 15-year-old to look a health care provider after knowing he have been absent from faculty on account of a suspected case of strep throat and turning into anxious. According to the IndyStar, lives with an aged circle of relatives member who does now not have a automobile.

In the previous, Smitherman had helped acquire clothes for and helped him blank his area, she advised government. She mentioned 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 grew to become away through one hospital as a result of he lacked insurance coverage, Smitherman mentioned she recognized the boy as her son at some other hospital, which prescribed him Amoxicillin for his sore throat.

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

In a commentary to native media, Smitherman mentioned she knew what she did used to be incorrect however that her handiest fear on the time used to be 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 mentioned. “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 toughen 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 mentioned.

Madison County Prosecutor Rodney Cummings mentioned he’s going to be offering Smitherman a diversion program that may permit the fees to be dropped towards her as long as she isn’t arrested once more within the coming yr.

“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 advised Fox 59 News.