Church in Aurora, Colorado, faces conference inquiries over alleged ties to Medicaid-billing home health agency

The Maranatha Indonesian-American Seventh-day Adventist Church in Aurora, Colorado, is under scrutiny after being linked to a Medicaid operation that allegedly exploited homeless individuals. According to a Denver Gazette investigation, the church was connected to On Going Home Health Care, a home-health agency. One report states that the church was established in September 2024.

According to The Denver Gazette, some participants in a program called “The Program” received cash payments in exchange for becoming clients of a home health care agency that billed Medicaid. The other report says the agency received over $24 million in Medicaid payments over three years for services to dozens of homeless people. Homeless individuals were recruited into the program in exchange for allowing the agency to administer their prescribed medications. Participants received $50 weekly payments, which the agency’s payors labeled as “donations,” often through electronic phone apps.

Stacey Fellows, a 50-year-old former floor tiler, told The Denver Gazette that he was told accepting a job would result in losing his Medicaid benefits. Protecting people who have few options is the lesson the recruitment of vulnerable participants raises (Proverbs 31:8-9).

Adrian Miller, executive director of the Colorado Council of Churches, said the use of cash as assistance is unusual and that most denominations focus on tangible support. The Rocky Mountain Council of Seventh-day Adventists, which represents 133 churches across the region, said the specific practices of the Maranatha church have not been widely shared within the Adventist community.

Fellows said he tried to find the church’s address online and was directed to an empty field in Aurora. The church’s website lists an East Hampden Avenue address that belongs to New Hope Community Church, which is merging with EHills Church. Sonya Hommes, executive pastor of EHills, told The Denver Gazette that Maranatha SDA was likely using the address.

The Rocky Mountain Conference and the Central States Conference have launched inquiries into the Aurora congregation’s involvement. Both conferences represent approximately 150 congregations in six states, according to the report.

On Going Home Health Care has been suspended from additional Medicaid payments while matters are pending.