Las Cruces, N.M.-based Southwest Counseling Center has paid $484.87 to the state's Human Services Department to settle a four-year-old $2.8 million Medicaid overpayment allegation, according to Santa Fe New Mexican.
During the investigation, the state withheld Medicaid reimbursements to Southwest Counseling Center, causing the behavioral health system to close its doors, according to the report.
"We never were doing anything wrong — certainly nothing that would require shutting down a 50-year-old organization," Roque Garcia, CEO of the now-closed Southwest Counseling Center told the Santa Fe New Mexican. "They closed us down without ever giving us a chance to defend ourselves."
The behavioral health center has received $700,000 of the suspended payments, which went to pay vendors and attorneys, Mr. Garcia said in the report.