Everybody knows going to the dentist is important, yet half of American adults skip out on regular dental care.
Some avoid dentistry out of fear of pain or sheer busyness, but a large portion of Americans can’t afford it without financial assistance.
Unfortunately, it’s Americans on government assistance programs for dental care who are being taken advantage of. Worse, their children are suffering for it.
It started as a solution
Many low-income children don’t receive dental care until they’re brought to the emergency room with a toothache, simply because their parents can’t afford it. Nearly half of American children are on some form of government-funded health insurance, either Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
…As a result, corporate dental chains started accepting Medicaid and CHIP, and even opening new offices specializing in Medicaid…
…most of the charges were coming from one dental chain, Kool Smiles, and that the x-rays didn’t justify their treatments. Kool Smiles was investigated, and state officials found that the crowns were not only unnecessary but that the dental work was shoddy….
…Kool Smiles isn’t the only dental chain implicated by government officials in fraudulent billing practices. Dental chain Small Smiles settled with the United States in 2010 for $24 million to resolve allegations of fraudulent charges. In April 2014, the company that owns Small Smiles, CSHM, Inc., was excluded from participating in federal health care programs like Medicaid for five years…
What the story fails to mention:
Small Smiles/CSHM is still operating Small Smiles clinics. They are simply using a different corporate name—First Quality Management, Inc. Many of the original corporate level employees still in place. Some clinics are under the control of Hero Management who operates Adventure Dental and Vision and others have been taken over by Sarrell Dental based in Alabama.