A $300,000 civil settlement was reached with a Phenix City-based healthcare provider after allegations of submitting false claims to the Alabama Medicaid Agency.
According to an announcement from the Middle District of Alabama Alfonza Smith, 72, of Smiths Station, is the owner of New Life Center for Change, Inc., doing business as Teen University.
A settlement filed in a federal court accused Smith of billing Alabama Medicaid for basic living skills services for at-risk children that were never given.
“Protecting the integrity of Medicaid and ensuring that vulnerable children receive the services they are promised are among our highest priorities,” said U.S. Attorney Thomas Govan.
“When providers bill for care that was never delivered, they waste taxpayer dollars and betray the trust placed in them. I want to thank the Alabama Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office of Inspector General for their exceptional work and collaboration in helping us hold providers accountable and safeguard taxpayer funds.”
The settlement was filed as part of the Department of Justice’s 2026 National Health Care Fraud Takedown.
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