SmileDirectClub is having yet another news-filled week, announcing it will begin selling its teeth-straightening products to dentists and orthodontists. Also, the company scored a legal victory with a New Jersey court finding it does not engage in the “corporate practice … Read More
Nearly everyone in Texas is affected by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In 2018, Attorney General Ken Paxton led a 20-state coalition lawsuit against the federal government which claimed the ACA’s individual mandate was unconstitutional. A Texas federal judge ruled … Read More
January 28, 2020 – 1:30pmHealth and Human Services Commission Brown-Heatly Building Public Hearing Room Hearing. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) will conduct a public hearing to receive public comment on proposed Medicaid payment rates for the 2020 … Read More
As Florida lawmakers prepare to start the 2020 legislative session, the state is being confronted with a $70.4 million loss in the coming months in the amount of Medicaid money it gets to fund hospitals, train future physicians and treat … Read More
A Fort Worth couple have been indicted on federal charges related to illegal kickbacks involving clinical laboratories in Texas and Virginia. A McKinney man also was indicted by a federal grand jury last month on the same charge, according to … Read More
Dental experts are telling parents not to panic after a Las Vegas dentist allegedly set a fire in the mouth of a 5-year-old girl during a routine procedure, calling the incident an unprecedented “freak accident.” The girl’s father, Howard Kane, … Read More
ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – The Abilene Taylor County Public Health District is now offering no-cost dental services to those that qualify. The Grant, provided by United Way is will cover only basic dental services. According to a City of Abilene … Read More
Three North Texas residents have been indicted for conspiring to pay for patient referrals in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Joseph D. Brown. The indictment was unsealed today. The Anti-Kickback Statute … Read More
By Melissa Busch, DrBicuspid.com assistant editor January 6, 2020 — Direct-to-consumer orthodontics company SmileDirectClub is disrupting the industry again, debuting a new, complete line of oral care products that will be sold exclusively at Walmart’s more than 3,800 stores and … Read More
HARLINGEN — Friends yesterday remembered Juan Villarreal as a loving family man who served as a city and school board leader to give back to his community after building one of the area’s biggest dental clinics. Villarreal, 66, died Sunday … Read More
In video footage from 2016 that was played in court and broadcast by Anchorage’s KTUU television station, Dr. Seth Lookhart appears to extract a tooth from the mouth of his patient, Veronica Wilhelm, while moving slightly back and forth on … Read More
A new Texas law that aims to protect patients from receiving surprise medical bills takes effect this week. Consumer advocates have praised the law as one of the most robust set of billing protections in the nation, though it only … Read More
Federal watchdogs have tied a bow on a key part of one of the largest Medicare fraud schemes in history. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida announced Friday that Rodolfo Pichardo and Marta Pichardo — husband … Read More
The Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) recently published its Fall 2019 Semiannual Report to Congress. The Report covers the period of April 1, 2019 through September 30, 2019, and identifies “significant problems, abuses, … Read More
A physician who Alaska prosecutors say filed millions of dollars in false claims for laboratory tests has been charged with felony and misdemeanor counts of medical assistance fraud. Dr. John Zipperer Jr. defrauded the Alaska Medicaid program by performing more … Read More
On December 18, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued its decision in the case of Texas v. United States, Docket No. 1-10011 (5th Cir. Dec. 18, 2019). The decision strikes at a core element of 2010 Patient Protection and … Read More
A Mt. Vernon dentist has agreed to give up his dental license this month after he was charged with arson and pleaded guilty to Medicaid fraud. Reports say Thomas Alms, 64, surrendered his license according to documents filed Dec. 10. … Read More
MCALLEN, Texas – A former employee of Dr. Jorge Zamora Quezada took the stand testifying he quit after he started noticing suspicious activity at Quezada’s clinics like excessive amounts of x-rays and certain ethical concerns. Rene Lucio, who was in … Read More
LAREDO, TX (KGNS) – A medical service provider in San Antonio and Laredo have two of their leaders arrested. Federal authorities are charging them with health care fraud. Through a release sent out on Friday by the Department of Justice, … Read More
A bipartisan panel of legal experts concluded in a report Friday that Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen likely violated state law and House rules when he offered a political activist media credentials in exchange for targeting certain incumbents in the … Read More
The first trial under the Connecticut False Claims Act has resulted with a Fairfield dentist being ordered to pay more than $1.7 million for defrauding the state’s Medicaid program. Aram Agadjanian, also known as Aram Yuri Agadzanov, was enrolled as … Read More
In an opinion blending arrogance and cowardice in equal measure, an appeals court ruled yesterday that the Affordable Care Act contains a constitutional flaw—and that most or all of the law may have to be scrapped. But the court was … Read More
As 2017 dawned, Texas billionaire John Paul DeJoria had a $123 million problem. The shampoo and liquor magnate had swept into Morocco nearly two decades earlier to drill wells and reap profits in a coastal kingdom that had never struck … Read More
CHIP outreach materials have been updated. The materials include a new brochure, poster, and income limit card. Hard copies of the materials can be ordered online for free by providers and community organizations. Email Susana.Penate@hhsc.state.tx.us with your questions. Source: CHIP … Read More
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Tennessee woman is charged with TennCare fraud and identity theft for allowing another person to use her TennCare card to receive dental benefits. TennCare covers dental services for adults only when there is a medical emergency. … Read More
Texas health officials violated state law when they said they would award a multibillion dollar series of health insurance contracts to for-profit companies while overlooking nonprofit health plans, a lawsuit brought by two nonprofit health insurers alleges. Up for grabs … Read More
LUBBOCK, Texas — Covenant Health filed its side of the story in court records Monday after Dr. Howard Beck brought allegations of Medicare and Medicaid fraud. Dr. Beck’s lawsuit became public in September after the United States government chose to … Read More
A Brandon dentist has filed a class-action lawsuit against Delta Dental, the nation’s largest dental insurer, accusing the company of price-fixing and conspiracy to lower the amount paid to dentists. Dentist William Dickey filed the lawsuit Wednesday in federal court … Read More
Many in Texas are keeping a close eye on the Republican bid to replace the Affordable Care Act. One of the big changes is how it would affect low-income people, seniors, and people with disabilities who get help from Medicaid. … Read More
LINCOLN — National and state dental leaders are raising the alarm over Medicaid audits that they say threaten the care of young children in Nebraska with mouths full of rotting teeth. The audits led one pediatric dentist in Lincoln to … Read More
Ten former NFL players, including some high-profile names, were charged Thursday by the Justice Department for allegedly defrauding the league’s healthcare benefits program of millions of dollars through an elaborate fraud scheme. The Justice Department announced the charges in a … Read More
MORRISTOWN, NJ – A 54-year-old Morristown doctor will spend four years in prison for his participation in a scheme to defraud Medicare and Medicaid of $30 million dollars, according to United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York … Read More
McALLEN — Two former employees of the Centers for Arthritis and Osteoporosis, the clinic owned by Dr. Jorge Zamora Quezada, testified Thursday about what they perceived to be unusual practices at the clinic as part of the ongoing trial. Zamora … Read More
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Over 200,000 people in New Mexico don’t have health insurance, but many actually qualify for financial help. “If people don’t have health insurance they won’t get access to health care, they won’t necessarily know what diagnosis they … Read More
The percentage of Texas’ youngest children without health insurance has increased since 2016, according to a report released Wednesday. In 2018, 8.3% of Texas children under age 6 — a total of 198,014 — were uninsured. The rate has grown … Read More
A top Trump health appointee sought to have taxpayers reimburse her for the costs of jewelry, clothing and other possessions, including a $5,900 Ivanka Trump-brand pendant, that were stolen while in her luggage during a work-related trip, according to documents … Read More
(CNN) — As Veronica Wilhelm lay sedated in a dental chair, her dentist was being filmed riding a hoverboard while he extracted her tooth. Wilhelm says she didn’t know about the hoverboard, or that her procedure in July 2016 was … Read More
Washington, DC—America’s taxpayers could see nearly $5.9 billion in misspent Medicare, Medicaid, and other health and human service program dollars returned to the government as the result of fiscal year 2019 work by the Department of Health and Human Services, … Read More
It has now been a common belief that opioid addiction begins at the doctor’s office. It’s hard to dispute that assertion now as New Jersey physician Morris “Moishe” Starkman has been guilty of said act. The former Bordentown, NJ doctor … Read More
The US Department of Justice (“DOJ”) has recently announced several healthcare fraud enforcement actions, charging 149 people for fraud schemes resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in unlawful billings to the federal government healthcare programs. These charges resulted from … Read More
