Editor’s note: the story has been updated to correct that HHSC does not plan to increase staff hours at its 2-1-1 information center. HHSC also now says that SNAP benefits are being processed in 32 days as of Dec. 15. … Read More
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is raising concerns about nearly 1 million Texas children dropped from the Medicaid program following the phase out of pandemic-era coverage. Texas already led all states in the number of uninsured residents, even before the … Read More
A Travis County district judge has ordered Attorney General Ken Paxton and three top aides to sit for depositions in the 3-year-old whistleblower lawsuit against him. At a hearing Wednesday in Austin, Judge Jan Soifer granted the whistleblowers’ motion to … Read More
The Corporate Transparency Act, which will require businesses to report certain ownership information to the U.S. government, will go into effect Jan. 1. Here are seven things for dentists to know: 1. The Corporate Transparency Act was enacted in 2021 … Read More
Andrew R. Golden, age 55, of New Canaan, was arrested Monday, Dec. 18, by inspectors from the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney. He was charged with larceny by defrauding a public community and … Read More
Indianapolis-based Community Health Network has agreed to a $345 million settlement with the Department of Justice to settle allegations of illegal physician referrals and related False Claims Act violations. Announced Tuesday, the deal stems from a whistleblower complaint filed in … Read More
As individual states continue to disenroll millions of people from Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) now that pandemic-era suspension of participation guidelines has come to an end, new data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human … Read More
Niranjan Mittal, a cardiologist based out of Brooklyn, New York, has been arrested due to his alleged participation in a fraud scheme that involved fabricating patient records, making illegal referrals and billing the U.S. government for medically unnecessary interventional cardiology … Read More
Several dental offices and companies have offered alternative treatment options to patients left without care after SmileDirectClub’s abrupt shutdown. SmileDirectClub announced Dec. 8 it would be shutting down its global operations immediately after efforts to recapitalize the business failed. The … Read More
The advancement and integration of AI into the dental industry is something that many throughout the space are keeping tabs on. The leaders featured in this article are all speaking at Becker’s 2024 dental conferences. This includes our Spring Future … Read More
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas kicked off more than a million people from Medicaid this year without checking if they were still eligible for coverage, according to an analysis released the same day the Texas Health and Human Services Commission said … Read More
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government put protections in place to make sure people could access health care, like testing, treatment, and doctors’ visits. These protections under the Public Health Emergency (PHE) started in March 2020. The PHE also … Read More
The American Association of Orthodontists is offering guidance to SmileDirectClub patients after the teledentistry company announced it had shut down and filed for bankruptcy. Here are the steps the organization is advising for patients of SmileDirectClub and other mail-order orthodontics … Read More
Governor Greg Abbott has appointed Brady Morehead, D.D.S. and Sarah Lamb and reappointed Lorie Jones and Bryan Henderson, II, D.D.S. to the State Board of Dental Examiners for terms set to expire on February 1, 2029. The Board administers programs … Read More
EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14/CBS4) — Texas Tech’s Dental Oral Health Clinic will be offering free screenings and cleanings for Borderplex residents next Monday and Wednesday. Hunt School of Dental Medicine second-year students will provide faculty-supervised care from 10 a.m. to … Read More
Audu Ozigi was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and four counts of healthcare fraud for falsifying patient files and fraudulently billing Medicare and Medicaid for home health services. Ozigi was sentenced by a Houston … Read More
SmileDirectClub will wind down its business after its efforts to recapitalize in bankruptcy failed. The Nashville, Tenn.-based online teeth-straightening company said Friday efforts to identify investors or partners needed to recapitalize the business had failed. “We were unable to find … Read More
A pair of Houston men have been arrested for allegedly running an unlicensed dentistry practice for 20 years, after an investigation into an alleged sexual assault by one of the men led officers to scrutinize the pair’s licensure. Alberto Alanis … Read More
ST PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota Attorney General’s Office charged three people with racketeering, theft by swindle and a host of other crimes in what they describe as the largest-ever Medicaid fraud prosecution by the Minnesota Medicaid Fraud Control Unit … Read More
In a significant blow to healthcare fraud, Tamara Yvonne Motley, the owner of two medical equipment companies, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison. The 55-year-old, also known as Tamara Ogembe, was found guilty for leading a scheme that … Read More
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Days after a local congressman asked the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to investigate months-long delays in Texas, potentially impacting millions of low-income and vulnerable people in the state, the agency is responding. CMS said in … Read More
About 1.4 million Texans have lost Medicaid coverage so far this year as the state continues to check eligibility. Since federal pandemic-era protections ended in early 2023, more than 11.7 million people nationally have lost Medicaid coverage, according to data … Read More
PHOENIX – The head of Arizona’s Medicaid agency is opening up about the AHCCCS fraud scandal plaguing our state. It’s been nearly a year since Carmen Heredia, cabinet executive officer, took over as the head of the agency, and she … Read More
ROGERS, Ark — Court documents confirm that the judge originally presiding over Dr. Brian Hyatt’s criminal trial where he’s accused of large-scale Medicaid fraud has recused herself. According to online court records, Judge Karen Whatley ordered the case to be … Read More
TYLER, Texas — Five defendants have been convicted of participating in a healthcare kickback conspiracy involving a Central Texas hospital, according to the United States Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Texas, including the former CEO of the hospital. According to … Read More
Planned Parenthood no longer provides abortions in Texas, Louisiana and the other 10 states that have essentially banned abortion since the Supreme Court handed down its Dobbs v. Jackson decision in June 2022. But the nonprofit is still providing other … Read More
Dive Brief: The HHS’ Office of the Inspector General is expected to recover more than $3.44 billion in fiscal year 2023 as a result of investigations into fraud and misspent funds in Medicare, Medicaid and other government health programs, according … Read More
Federal prosecutors say a North Texas medical lab owner could go to prison for scamming Medicare out of $1.7 million. Prosecutors say JDS Labs submitted nearly $4 million worth of claims to Medicare for over-the-counter COVID-19 tests, and actually got … Read More
Impoverished Texans, the vast majority of them children, could go hungry this Christmas because of dysfunction at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, whistleblowers at the state agency warned in an anonymous letter released Nov. 21. “Thousands of Texans … Read More
PLANO, Texas — A local man pleaded guilty on Thursday to a fraudulent scheme aimed at obtaining approximately $1.7 million from Medicare, according to U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, Leigha Simonton. 55-year-old Damon Heath Roberts, of Plano, … Read More
The Washington Dental Quality Assurance Commission has suspended the license of David Dowling, DDS, an orthodontist in Mississippi. Dr. Dowling had his license suspended by the Washington commission in September. He surrendered his license in California in October following an … Read More
A New York City man recently pleaded guilty to charges of practicing dentistry without a license, westchester.news12.com reported Nov. 29. Cesar Masso, 79, set up an unlicensed dental business in White Plains, N.Y., and allegedly performed extractions and administered X-rays … Read More
Marathon Petroleum, which operates a refinery in El Paso, has donated $50,000 to the oral health clinic at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso. At the clinic, dental students gain real-world experience under the guidance of instructors while … Read More
A Virginia-based nurse practitioner, Daphne Jenkins, pleaded guilty in federal court for her role in a multi-million dollar telemedicine fraud scheme that defrauded Medicare of $7.8 million over four years. According to the Department of Justice, between December 2018 and … Read More
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A doctor from Northwest Arkansas has been charged with two counts of felony Medicaid fraud. A release from Attorney General Tim Griffin says Dr. Brian Hyatt made fraudulent Medicaid claims of more than $300,000. “Prosecution of … Read More
BOSTON — A Natick psychiatrist is facing up to 20 years in prison after a federal jury convicted him of Medicare fraud-related charges for illegally charging $11 million in treatments he never provided. A U.S. District Court jury inBoston found … Read More
At least 812,000 Texas children have lost health care coverage in the last seven months following the end of pandemic-era continuous Medicaid renewals, according to the latest data from KFF. Children are 58 percent of the 1.4 million Texans who … Read More
HUDSON VALLEY, NY — A doctor and his wife who worked in Pennsylvania have admitted their roles in schemes to solicit and receive kickbacks and bribes in exchange for ordering genetic tests, prosecutors announced Wednesday. “Ripping off the federal government … Read More
HARTFORD — A North Haven dentist accused of defrauding more than $200,000 from the Medicaid health care program for the poor accepted a plea bargain Monday and was convicted of two felonies, but can avoid an immediate prison sentence by … Read More
The Archdiocese of St. Louis’ Rural Parish Dental Clinic uses a traveling mobile dental office to offer emergency and preventative dental work for indigent and under-insured clients in outlying counties of the diocese in a traveling mobile unit. Video by … Read More
