WFAA
Posted on December 18, 2012 at 10:13 PM
Updated today at 9:01 AM
The black market for Medicaid Dental patients is going strong, despite the state’s tightening of the payment system for providing dental care to poor children.
Phyllis Gonzales said she was paid more than $1,000 by 1-Stop Dental in Hurst over a two-month period. In exchange, she said she brought about 60 kids and their parents to the dentist’s office.
There, she said parents got between $20 and $35 for switching their children to the dentist working there.
It’s illegal to pay a parent to switch dentists under Medicaid, according to the Texas Department of Health and Human Services.
The 1-Stop story came to News 8’s attention because of flyers stuck under car windshield wipers at DART station parking lots.
“The policy was basically to bring as many patients as possible,” Gonzales said. “The payment [to Gonzales] was $10 per child, with bonuses of $100 once you reached ten children."
