After an emergency injunction, Mirabelle Care says a judge ordered OHCA to pay all amounts owed and lift its November suspension. Payments have resumed.
Key Takeaways
- A November suspension nearly closed the provider. OHCA suspended Mirabelle Care’s SoonerCare payments over a credible allegation of fraud, and by late June the company said it was close to missing payroll for its 210 employees. In three Oklahoma towns, it is the only ABA provider its patients have.
- A judge ordered the payments resumed. After Mirabelle Care filed an emergency injunction, a judge ordered OHCA to immediately pay all amounts owed and lift the suspension, the company says. SoonerCare payments have resumed and patient services will continue without interruption.
- Families and employees made the case. As part of the injunction, the judge reviewed more than 400 emails from families and staff attesting to the value of the services, a count the company now puts closer to 500. The provider serves about 500 children across seven Oklahoma clinics, several in communities with no other ABA option.
- The fraud investigation is not resolved. The resumption of payments does not end the underlying investigation, which the Attorney General’s office confirmed is active. The reversal comes as OHCA transitions to new interim leadership under Aaron Morris.
A judge has ordered the Oklahoma Health Care Authority to resume SoonerCare payments to Mirabelle Care and lift the suspension it imposed in November, the company said, easing a standoff that had pushed the ABA provider to the edge of missing payroll for its 210 employees. Elizabeth Broomfield, the company’s President and a Board Member, told Acuity in a written statement that payments have resumed and that a judge ordered OHCA to immediately pay all amounts owed.
The reversal follows the payment suspension Acuity reported yesterday, when OHCA cut off the company’s six SoonerCare provider numbers over a determination that a credible allegation of fraud existed, then waited 207 days to notify it. Mirabelle Care, which rebranded from KidsChoice in June, has said the conduct under scrutiny predated its January acquisition by a buyer group affiliated with Aquitaine Capital, one of many private-equity investors that have moved into behavioral health.
How Mirabelle Care Won Its Emergency Injunction
Broomfield said the company pursued relief on several fronts at once. “We pursued every available avenue simultaneously—legal, political, media, and direct community advocacy,” she told Acuity Media Network. The company filed an emergency injunction, and as part of that process, she said, the judge reviewed more than 400 emails from families and employees attesting to the value of the services in their communities, a figure she now puts closer to 500.
Acuity has reviewed and can confirm the July 15 letter the company circulated to close contacts announcing the resolution but agreed not to publish it. Amanda Ralston, the Chief Executive Officer the new owners installed in January, leads the seven-clinic operation, which offers applied behavior analysis along with speech and occupational therapy.
A Leadership Change at Oklahoma Medicaid
The resolution coincides with a leadership change at the agency. Governor Kevin Stitt announced Wednesday that Clay Bullard would step down as the Authority’s Chief Executive and return to the private sector, and named state Chief Financial Officer Aaron Morris its Interim Director. The Governor’s office did not connect the departure to any single matter.
Broomfield said Mirabelle Care looks forward to working with OHCA’s new leadership and would cooperate fully with the agency and other government bodies on program integrity and Medicaid accountability. She said the company is turning its attention back to growth across its Oklahoma clinical and operational roles.
The resumption of payments does not resolve the underlying fraud investigation. The Attorney General’s office confirmed an active investigation earlier this month, and OHCA’s June suspension letters had said full payment could resume only once the state’s Medicaid fraud unit found insufficient evidence or related proceedings concluded. Withheld Medicaid payments have closed ABA providers before, including an Indianapolis provider that shut down this year after a payment hold, a reminder of how much turned on the money Mirabelle Care says is now flowing again.
