PRESTONSBURG, Ky. — A third high-ranking employee has filed suit against Mountain Comprehensive Care Center, claiming she was fired for not following orders to submit false billing codes.

Kristy Stiltner, of Van Lear, filed her complaint May 1. In it, she says she was a 22-year employee of the organization who most recently served as Mental Health Director.

Stiltner makes claims that she was told to engage in improper billing practices in order to generate more revenue for the company. Her claims are nearly identical to allegations made by former Chief Financial Officer Rebeckah Hall and former Regional Billing Coordinator Rachel Williams.

Allegations made by all three women include:

• Billing for services provided at a federally-qualified health center to increase revenue, when services were provided at a different location
• Refraining from engaging with Medicaid and Medicare for inquiries or clarification of charges identified by the CEO as billable
• Billing for services under the credentials of a licensed provider when they were not rendered by a licensed provider, in order to obtain a higher reimbursement rate

In addition to those claims, Stiltner says she was also directed to “bill a certain amount of service per client, regardless if the services were necessary or warranted.”

Hall and Williams made two other claims not made by Stiltner. They include:

• Not correcting billing codes after the Covid pandemic to reflect that services were provided as “audio only”
• Changing billing locations despite being told by the Financial and Billing departments that the action violated state law

Stiltner says after she refused to engage in the fraudulent billing practices, her supervisors placed her in a hostile work environment. Unlike Hall and Williams, who resigned from their positions due to the working conditions, Stiltner remained until she was fired. When she was terminated, she said CEO Promod Bishnoi told her, “This just isn’t working out.”

Prior to that, Stiltner says she received excellence performance reviews, was given pay raises and promotions, and had never received disciplinary action.

Stiltner is seeking compensation for past, present and future mental and physical pain, suffering and anguish; emotional distress; lost wages; medical and hospital bills; retirement and other employee benefits; pre-judgment and post-judgment interest; costs; attorney’s fees; and punitive damages.

Attorneys for Mountain Comprehensive Care did not respond to a request from Mountain Top News for comment. The company has not yet responded to the latest complaint, but has denied the allegations raised in the two previous lawsuits.

A copy of Stiltner’s complaint follows: