In our last article “ADA Says Dentists Need to Accept Value Based Care as “Inevitable,” we referenced an online discussion on the Dentistry in General YouTube channel held on June 13. This passionate discussion revolved around the JADA editorial advocating … Read More
REPUBLISHED FROM THE TEXAS TRIBUNE Neelam Bohra, The Texas Tribune For seven years, Maricela Delcid has guided Texans through the Medicaid application minefield, working past language barriers and documentation issues out of a community center in Houston. But her clients … Read More
A firestorm erupted last month with an editorial published in the Journal of the American Dental Association titled “Value-based care in dentistry – Is the future here?” by Marko Vujicic, the chief economist and a vice president of the ADA’s … Read More
On June 27, we reported that the Legislature would not be increasing the Medicaid fee schedule for dentists despite the overwhelming need and the record abundance of funds in the state coffers this legislative session. The reason cited was that … Read More
A second ransomware group has claimed that it has attacked MCNA, breached its network and taken data for ransom. MCNA hacked again on June 14? The Snatch ransomware group posted on its dark web portal on June 14 that it … Read More
Considering that one of the largest DMOs in the country was hacked by the Russian ransomware group LockBit and their entire network data stolen, there has been surprisingly little media coverage about this massive data theft. The consequences of identity … Read More
With the passage of the record $321.3 billion state budget by the legislature and recent certification by the State Comptroller, all hope for a fee increase for Medicaid dentists this legislative session has evaporated. Efforts unsuccessful Efforts to educate legislators … Read More
The number of privacy law firms “investigating” MCNA for its massive data breach is growing exponentially. Here are just a few of the announcements made since our last article. Silver Golub & Teitell LLP Investigates MCNA Dental Data Breach Class … Read More
A major consumer rights law firm is now looking into the possibility of a class action lawsuit against MCNA for its huge data breach of some 9 million clients back in February, but just made public recently. Hagens Berman describes … Read More
It was announced yesterday that Emily Zalkovsky will replace Stephanie Stevens on July 1 as Medicaid and CHIP Director for Texas HHS. Ms. Zalkovsky has been deputy director since September 2020. There is no mention of why Ms. Stephens is … Read More
MCNA has been making the news the last few days because it placed a notice on its website May 26 as well as sent letters to several state Attorney Generals that it was hacked back in February and that the … Read More
Texas Medicaid nursing providers received a rate increase this past weekend as the Texas legislature approved an extension to a COVID-era add-on until August 31 and a further $900 million general Medicaid rate increase as part of the state’s overall … Read More
Last week, TDMR filed a complaint with the Texas Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General over the continuing complaints received by TDMR about the unacceptable delays in the credentialing of Medicaid dentists, particularly relating to the need to … Read More
The latest Texas HHS-OIG Quarterly Report issued last month, again for some reason, under provider integrity, focussed on findings made on investigations of Medicaid dental providers when these investigations only account for a tithe of full-scale investigations conducted by OIG. … Read More
Back in March, Rep. Mike Simpson, D.M.D., R-Idaho, introduced federal legislation to reduce administrative barriers for Medicaid dentists. Simplify credentialing According to an ADA release, “H.R. 1422, the Strengthening Medicaid Incentives for Licensees Enrolled in Dental Act [SMILED Act], would … Read More
TDMR has learned that Dr. Margaret Laccabue is no longer the Dental Director, Office of the Medical Director, Medicaid and CHIP Services for Texas HHS. We have it on good authority that she was released from employment with HHS, but … Read More
We’re not exactly sure what happened, but Raymond C. Winter, who headed up the Civil Medicaid Fraud division of the Office of the Attorney General of Texas for the last 15 years, is no longer there. According to his LinkedIn … Read More
Texas needs to attract more dentists to help serve the ever-increasing number of Medicaid-eligible children in the state. Medicaid dental provider statistics Back at the end of 2013, there were roughly 3.2 million Medicaid-eligible children with 3,468 Medicaid dental providers … Read More
UPDATE: The Texas HHS Open Records Office sent TDMR a further document that contains only the active number of dentists in the Texas Medicaid program from 1996 to 2022. The previous document used contained both active and inactive combined. This … Read More
More trouble for Texas’s latest Medicaid contractor, Conduent. Needless to say, insurance providers AIG and partner companies are appalled that the Delaware judge in their case against Conduent granted a retrial and dismissed the jury verdict that Conduent had committed … Read More
