The agency overseeing Colorado’s federal Medicaid program has suspended an Aurora home-health agency that is the focus of an investigation into an enterprise that lured dozens of homeless people with promises of free housing and cash and reaped tens of millions of dollars in Medicaid reimbursements.

Officials said it has stopped paying Medicaid claims filed by On Going Home Health Care pending the outcome of its inquiry into “The Program,” an elaborate and intertwined confederation of businesses that provided shelter, money and prescriptions to homeless participants in return for billing the federal program for administering the drugs.

The Program was the center of a Denver Gazette investigation last month that exposed how On Going HHC, after just three years, had turned itself into a thriving multimillion-dollar business that centered on servicing the homeless. It’s unclear if it had any other clients.

On Going HHC received more than $24 million in Medicaid payments, although it’s unclear how much was tied to “The Program.”

Colorado’s Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF) on Tuesday confirmed Medicaid had suspended the payments “due to credible allegations of fraud” it found during investigations that were launched following The Denver Gazette’s stories.

“It is alleged that On Going Home Health Care is billing for services not rendered, reflected in an excessive Medicaid reimbursement increase, from slightly over $1 million in 2022 to over $20 million in 2025,” according to a suspension letter HCPF sent to On Going HHC’s ownership on Monday. “This action by the State of Colorado in no way precludes any action by the federal government should it decide to pursue other administrative or legal actions.”

A HCPF spokesman would not elaborate any further and said the agency’s inquiry is continuing. The agency had previously confirmed the FBI is also investigating.

Efforts to reach On Going HHC were unsuccessful Tuesday and no one answered a call to its published number.

Another state agency, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, is similarly investigating. The agency had no comment regarding the suspension or the status of its probe.

The Denver Gazette revealed how On Going HHC relied on the few homeless people it served years ago to recruit others into “The Program,” the label workers gave to the enterprise, in which participants were all taken to the same doctor, given prescriptions whose necessity was questioned, then lived in one of a half-dozen suburban houses sprinkled across eastern Aurora rent free.

Key to the enterprise, The Denver Gazette reported, were thrice-weekly $50 payments, at first in cash and later in gift cards, given to each participant, ostensibly from a church formed by friends and family of the principals at On Going HHC.

Another business, Better Living, was similarly created by relatives and friends to see to the housing arrangements. The business was quick to evict residents who went awry of its rules, including a prohibition against reporting what was going on to authorities or even taking up a job in order to preserve their Medicaid eligibility.

Although the enterprise resorted to providing participants with gift cards — nearly all of whom said they later converted to cash at businesses that make that exchange — several others recently confirmed they were still receiving cash payments.

The Denver Gazette also highlighted one such eviction that occurred in Arapahoe County Court without any proof the church — Maranatha Indonesian-American Seventh-day Adventist Church — owned or formally leased the properties. Property records show the houses in which The Program operates are privately owned.

Home health care agencies must be licensed by the state — On Going HHC was created in 2019 and approved by Medicaid in 2022 — and are paid based on a detailed schedule that can include prescription drug management, personal care, such as bathing and dressing, and a variety of other day-to-day tasks.

Participants in The Program told The Denver Gazette how they heard of the arrangement from an acquaintance who, according to interviews, was promised payments up to $500 for any referral that was accepted.

Acceptance came only after a visit to an Aurora doctor, Arthur Ferrer at Family Medicine of the Rockies, who provided at least one prescription. Although some participants questioned their need for any prescription, Ferrer’s son, Ian Ferrer, who is the clinic’s administrator, told The Denver Gazette that none was without medical necessity.

Ian Ferrer on Tuesday said he had no comment about Medicaid’s suspension decision. He said the clinic continued to see homeless people who were part of The Program, noting “you can’t just turn your back on people who need you.”

Prescriptions were picked up by On Going HHC workers at a pharmacy near its Aurora office and later dispensed to The Program participants each week. Several participants told The Denver Gazette that the workers merely counted pills into dispensers and took vital signs such as blood pressure and temperature.

On Going HHC would then bill Medicaid $900-$1,500 a week for the process.

In return for allowing On Going HHC to bill their Medicaid accounts, participants were given a place to live, with some sleeping on couches, rugs or in basements.

The draw, each told The Denver Gazette, was the $50 payments that came with no directions or restrictions on where or how to spend the money. Several said they would not have remained in The Program without the payments.

Federal law prohibits payments to anyone on Medicaid if it’s considered an inducement to choose one Medicaid provider over another, no matter the source of the funds.