Prior Year ReportsLargest Sum Ever Recovered in Single YearWASHINGTON –Attorney General Eric Holder and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today released a new report showing that the government’s health care fraud prevention and enforcement efforts recovered nearly $4.1 billion in taxpayer dollars in Fiscal Year (FY) 2011. This is the highest annual amount ever recovered from individuals and companies who attempted to defraud seniors and taxpayers or who sought payments to which they were not entitled.
These findings, released today, in the annual Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Program (HCFAC) report, are a result of President Obama making the elimination of fraud, waste and abuse a top priority in his administration. The success of this joint Department of Justice and HHS effort would not have been possible without the Health Care Fraud Prevention & Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), created in 2009 to prevent fraud, waste and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs, and to crack down on the fraud perpetrators who are abusing the system and costing American taxpayers billions of dollars. These efforts to reduce fraud will continue to improve with the new tools and resources provided by the Affordable Care Act.
“This report reflects unprecedented successes by the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services in aggressively preventing and combating health care fraud, safeguarding precious taxpayer dollars and ensuring the strength of our essential health care programs,” said Attorney General Holder. “We can all be proud of what's been achieved in the last fiscal year by the Department’s prosecutors, analysts and investigators – and by our partners at HHS. These efforts reflect a strong, ongoing commitment to fiscal accountability and to helping the American people at a time when budgets are tight.” more here
WILMINGTON — Prominent Wilmington dentist Marieve Rodriguez admitted to 10 misdemeanor counts of filing false Medicaid reports today in exchange for state prosecutors dropping 19 felony counts of health care fraud.
In addition Rodriguez, who operates Gentle Care Family Dentistry on Gilpin Avenue, will pay a $100,000 fine, repay $72,000 to the state’s Medicaid program and $50,000 to cover the costs of prosecution.
She also agreed to have her license to practice medicine suspended for a year and to not participate in the state’s Medicaid program -- should she get her license back -- for at least five years.
A dentist who surrendered his license in 1993 was indicted Tuesday on allegations he practiced dentistry without a license in 2011.
Chester Kyle Little, 58, of Warner Robins, is accused of performing dentistry from June 30, 2011, to Aug. 25, 2011, at an office located at 2533 Hillcrest Ave. in Macon, according to an indictment filed Tuesday in Bibb County Superior Court.
DALLAS - No one would say being a single mom is easy. Especially being a single, teenage mother.
But the State of Texas appears to be encouraging teenage girls to become pregnant so they can receive free dental care under Medicaid.
Our investigation last year found hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer money spent for free braces on kids' teeth under Medicaid. That spurred a federal investigation, because cosmetic braces aren't supposed to be paid for under Medicaid.
If that is an example of good intentions gone bad, Latricia Banks and her mom, Patricia Jones, may exemplify a good idea gone terribly wrong.
For them, home is a tiny, wooden house in the shadow of Dallas' skyscrapers, which they share with Latricia's 82-year-old grandfather. It is a household held together with love, not money. Medical and dental care came mostly through Medicaid.
A little more than two years ago, Latricia's mom got a postcard in the mail, like many people in the neighborhood. Access Dental was offering to provide free braces for qualified children like Latricia, then 17 years old.
We hear a lot about the “revolving” door in Washington, but seldom does anyone talk about the revolving door within agencies and professional organizations. The same organizations that write the rules, regulations, tests, and guidelines that effect each of us in a more personal way. The same organizations that states and lawmakers trust to protect the public from harm. Chances of corruption are 100% when there are no checks and balances.
Their Publications and Studies
Looking are various websites including the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD), you find publication after publication, study after study, dating as far back as the early 1990’s to the present. Just about all of them are, rewritten and republished studies that are merely mashups of their own previous written articles and studies.
Here is just one of hundreds of examples :
Journal of Dental Education – Vol. 68, Number 1
General Dentists’ Perceptions of Educational and Treatment Issues Affecting Access to Care for Children with Special Needs.
Written by:
Paul Casamassimo, DDS, MS;
N. Sue Seale, DDS, MS;
Kelley Ruehs, DDSReferenced:
Casamassimo PS. The great educational experiment: has
it worked? Spec Care Dentist 1983;3:103-6.Seale NS, Casamassimo PS. Access to dental care for
children: profiling the general practitioner who treats
young and low-income children. J Am Dent Assoc
2003;134:1630-40.
If you get to looking at all the professional opinions, publications, studies, and continuing education courses concerning pediatric dentistry, the same names are there over and over.
Posted: Saturday, February 4, 2012 12:00 am
Engine trouble eyed in plane crash By NICK BONHAM | nickb@chieftain.com The Pueblo Chieftain | 0 comments
An engine problem appeared to have caused the Thursday night slide-off of a Learjet at Pueblo Memorial Airport, a preliminary report by the Federal Aviation Administration said.
The plane "lost power in right engine during take-off and ran off side of runway," the report said.
Due to weather conditions, investigators with the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board won't arrive in Pueblo until early next week, said Mark Lovin, airport director, on Friday.
No one was injured in the Thursday night crash. The private plane was occupied by the prominent DeRose family of Pueblo. The group was taking off in poor weather conditions to Las Vegas to watch the Super Bowl. Lovin, however, has said it doesn't appear the weather was a factor.
The report said the plane sustained "substantial damage" in the crash. The name of the pilot has not been released.
The DeRoses were on Learjet ID number N31WS, which was once owned by singer John Denver, according to flightaware.com
"John Denver took delivery of this Lear in 1975. He named it WindStar 1. He created WindStar Aviation. His father, Dutch, was the chief pilot," the website said.
Records show the Learjet is now owned by Extra Point LLC, in Delaware. The plane's most recent flight was from Centennial to Pueblo on Jan. 27.
The Learjet was removed from the side of the runway late Thursday night and is being stored at the airport for investigators.
The airport was closed following the incident but was reopened Friday morning.
Engine trouble eyed in plane crash - The Pueblo Chieftain: Local News
This morning I awoke to hear news about the big snow storm in the Rockies. Next thing that was talked about was the flight cancelations and so forth. Then it was mentioned a private jet had already slid off the runway in Pueblo due to the fierce snow storm.
Pueblo! The sudden adrenaline rush woke me on up, since I was still in bed half asleep. When I hear Pueblo, I think DeRose.
Being the meanie I am, I thought, “Oh, please let that be a DeRose jet.”
Then the newscaster said, “luckily no one was injured.” Again, being the meanie I am I thought, “dang”. That little devil on my shoulder shows up every now and again, ya know. (it does for everyone, I just might admit it more…lol)
That was the end of the report and the newscaster moved on.
The devil side of me disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. I came to my senses and thought, there has to be dozens of private jets in Pueblo.Then, just moments ago a reader sent me a link to the following story!
So why does your dentist strap your child in a papoose board as soon as they get their hands on them, instead of taking the time to go through the acceptable standards set out by the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry? (Listed in detail below).
Answer - M.O.N.E.Y.
How much?
Every MINUTE saved is $6-$8.
For a Private Equity firm, or other Wall Street bank or investment firm, wasting $6-$8 a minute is UNACCEPTABLE! For a greedy dentist who cares nothing about your child, only about his/her 5 million dollar home and private jet it’s also UNACCEPTABLE. (see below about these numbers)
From the AAPD Guidelines for Behavioral Management
AAPD Guidelines Page 4 - Regardless of the behavior guidance techniques utilized by the individual practitioner, all guidance decisions must be based on a subjective evaluation weighing benefits and risks to the child. The need for treatment, consequences of deferred treatment, and potential physical/emotional trauma must be considered.
Decisions regarding the use of behavior guidance techniques other than communicative management cannot be made solely by the dentist. They must involve a parent and, if appropriate, the child. The dentist serves as the expert on dental care (i.e.,the timing and techniques by which treatment can be delivered). The parent shares with the practitioner the decision whether or not to treat and must be consulted regarding treatment strategies and potential risks. Therefore, the successful completion of diagnostic and therapeutic services.
Acceptable Techniques
1st – Tell-Show-Do Tell-show-do is a technique of behavior shaping used by many pediatric professionals. The technique involves verbal explanations of procedures in phrases appropriate to the developmental level of the patient (tell); demonstrations for the patient of the visual, auditory, olfactory, and tactile aspects
of the procedure in a carefully defined, nonthreatening setting (show); and then, without deviating from the explanation and demonstration, completion of the procedure (do). The tell-show-do technique is used with communication skills (verbal and nonverbal) and positive reinforcement.
