U.P. Woman Pleads Guilty To Medicaid Home Help Program Fraud

Nicole Stouffer of Rock, an unincorporated community in Delta County's Maple Ridge Township, has pleaded guilty to defrauding Medicaid of about $8,000 during 2022:

https://www.michigan.gov/ag/news/press-releases/2025/11/04/delta-county-woman-pleads-guilty-to-medicaid-fraud

Delta County Woman Pleads Guilty to Medicaid Fraud
By Danny Wimmer - November 04, 2025

LANSING – Today, Nicole Stouffer, 44, of Rock, MI, pled guilty to two counts of felony Medicaid Fraud as a habitual second offender, punishable by up to 6 years in prison, announced Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. Stouffer was charged in June 2023 for defrauding the Home Help Program.

Stouffer was approved by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to receive home help services from the program in July 2021. Under the program, Stouffer was allowed to pick her own provider for these services, and she selected a family member. Logs purportedly verifying the home help work and the dates worked from November 2021 through August 2022 were submitted to DHHS. Approximately $8,000 was paid to Stouffer for the home help services.

In November 2022, the family member allegedly providing Stouffer’s home help services made a complaint to the Department of Attorney General. The home help provider denied having agreed to serve as home help provider and further denied providing any of the services resulting in payment.

“The Home Help Program provides essential support to help some of our most vulnerable remain in the comfort of their homes and avoid the need for costly long-term care facilities,” Nessel said. “My office takes the exploitation of such programs very seriously, and we will continue to hold accountable those who steal from this important safety net.”

Stouffer will be sentenced on December 16 by the Honorable John B. Economopoulos in the 47th Circuit Court in Delta County.

The Attorney General’s Health Care Fraud Division (HCFD) handled this case for the Department. The HCFD is the federally certified Medicaid Fraud Control Unit for Michigan and it receives 75% of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $5,517,524.00 for the fiscal year 2026. The remaining 25% percent, totaling $1,839,170.00, is funded by the State of Michigan.