I made an entry here a few weeks ago about Kool Smiles telling their patients they have to choose a doctor, not their clinic under the new rules. I wondered how that would work, since the dentist’s don’t stay too long at the dental mills. Chances of seeing the same dentist twice (unless it’s the next day) slim to none.
Here’s a comment on that from a Texas dentist I thought deserved being front and center.
UPDATE, 3:30 p.m.: The attorney general's office has 31 orthodontists under investigation for possible Medicaid fraud, David Maxwell, the office's deputy director of law enforcement, testified to the House panel. According to Rep. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, the panel's chairwoman, 24 percent of the nearly 80,000 children who last year received orthodontic services from Medicaid were under the age of 12. State social services czar Tom Suehs testified that, starting in March, the minimum age for treatment of severe misalignment of upper and lower teeth will be 13. "Some of our providers out there gamed and manipulated the system," Suehs testified. "I won't use the word fraud. ... Clearly, we didn't have some of the controls we should've had."
ORIGINAL POST: Poor youngsters in Texas who were put into braces courtesy of taxpayers saw their orthodontist an average of 22 times in fiscal 2010, state Medicaid chiefs said in testimony they were to give to a legislative panel Tuesday.
"Typically, 12 visits per year is expected," said the written testimony by Medicaid chiefs Tom Suehs (right) and Billy Millwee to the House Public Health Committee.
Read the rest – click below
Texas - State Senate to Hold Hearing on Medicaid Dental
Byron Harris
WFAA
December 16, 2011
DALLAS - Since last spring, News 8 investigations have uncovered hundreds of millions of dollars of questionable Medicaid payments for orthodontics for children. The state prohibits Medicaid expenditures for cosmetic dentistry, including braces in most cases.
But records obtained by News 8 under the Texas Public Information Act found that Texas spent $184 million providing braces for poor children under Medicaid last year alone, as much as the rest of the nation combined.
Now State Senator Jane Nelson (R-Flower Mound) plans to hold hearings on the issue.
by BYRON HARRIS
Bio | Email
WFAA
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 11:15 PM
WFAA's Byron Harris has investigated dental organizations that have charged the government millions for children's braces. Here is the latest from the on-going News 8 investigation which includes a statement from Texas attorney, Jim Moriarty.
E-mail bharris@wfaa.com
by BYRON HARRIS
Bio | Email
WFAA
Posted on August 25, 2011 at 10:37 PM
Updated Thursday, Aug 25 at 10:37 PM
NEWS 8 INVESTIGATES
For the past six months, News 8 investigations have revealed hundreds of millions of dollars of questionable Medicaid spending on braces for children in Texas.
Now federal investigators are auditing the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, which controls those funds. Taking the lead in the audit is the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
In a letter to the state, the inspector general says it will examine the "authorization process for orthodontic treatment" under Texas Medicaid. "The objective of our audit," the letter continues, "is to review the State's controls to ensure that only medically necessary orthodontic cases are paid." The time period covered by the audit is September 1, 2008 through May 28, 2011.
by BYRON HARRIS
Bio | Email
WFAA
Posted on June 19, 2011 at 9:51 PM
Updated yesterday at 4:17 PMNews 8 Investigates
From the air, it looks like there's a shark in swimming pool of the 13,000-square-foot mansion in Frisco. Turns out the shark is only painted on the bottom, complementing the water slide, next to the tennis court, which gives the place the look of a resort.It all belongs to owner of Smiley Dental Clinics, which last year collected at least $1.9 million in Medicaid orthodontics (MO) fees, according to state records.
While the shark in the dentist's pool may be an illusion, it's not imaginary that Texas dentists have been swimming in a sea of Medicaid money over the last three years.
2007 $399,000,000
2008 $768,000,000
2009 $961,000,000
2010 $1,235,000,000
In essence, Medicaid expenditures in Texas for dental services have gone up 300% in 4 years. I suppose it’s a case of out of control kids going to sleep with Sippy cups. Or theft on a monumental scale. No wonder every dentist in the country wants to come to Texas to make his/her fortune!
Actually you don’t have to actually be a dentist to profit, just hire one. I’m packing now, look out Texas, here I come.
Section 5 page 6 of Texas Medicaid and CHIP 8th edition – January 2011
Yet today, Texas announced it was “expanding” it’s Medicaid spending for dental care! Texas taxpayers, your Texas government has lost it’s ever lovin’ mind!
Here ya go, Texas, bend over! Oh wait, sorry, you already are bent over, well, stand back up and do it again.