A special Christmas blessing goes out to the orthodontists who have volunteered to see these victimized children!

For the past several years, hundreds of Texas Orthodontic clinics have put braces on children who didn't need them, all to bilk the Medicaid system - stealing your tax dollars. Now that the Feds and State of Texas are hunting down the dirty dogs. What did the owners do? Well they locked their doors and ran; being the cowards they are. Now, ten’s of thousands of children have been abandoned, braces still on and treatment unfinished. Now, volunteers are stepping in.

 

 

Roderick Williams, 11, got his braces more than two years ago. When we met him, all that remained were brackets. His wires were broken. His orthodontist was out of business.

His mom, Denecia Williams, was at a loss.

"Now what do I do?" she said. "And it's been a hassle ever since."

Like hundreds of other Texas kids,  Roderick was stuck without anyone else to remove what was still left in his mouth. Now there is.

 

Taxpayers spent $13 million on orthodontic transportation in Texas

Children picked up and escorted to dentist office for orthodontic treatment when dentist was not even in the state. 

Dollars are scarcely available to treat children who are in  very serious and real need, yet hundreds of millions freely distributed for unnecessary and useless braces on children in the Medicaid system.

These are just two of the allegations in the latest installment from Byron Harris of WFAA-TV in Dallas.

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by BYRON HARRIS
Bio | Email
WFAA

Taxpayers spent $13 million on orthodontic transportation | wfaa.com Dallas - Fort Worth

Posted on October 6, 2011 at 11:42 PM

Last year, Texas taxpayers spent $184 million so kids on Medicaid could get free braces. Taxpayers did not just pay orthodontists for doing work many in the middle class consider a luxury. Under Medicaid, the public spent $13 million on orthodontic transportation.

Children got picked up, taken to orthodontists' offices, had their braces installed or worked on and were taken home again. Medicaid pays for up to 26 trips per patient. Many experts say that's evidence of a well-intentioned program gone wrong.

In his office in Dallas, Dr. Deji Fashemo looks at a three-dimensional photo of a child who badly needs orthodontic help. It is a mouth so crammed with teeth it's painful to look at. So in need of structural repair, the patient can hardly open to brush his teeth.