The Great State of Texas, a leader in so many other things, unfortunately, is not a leader in healthcare. United Healthcare Foundation, UnitedHealth Group This is according to America’s Health Rankings, an annual state-by-state survey of healthcare in the nation … Read More
Texas Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General came out with its last quarterly report for fiscal year 2022 this month. OIG provider settlements One of the key takeaways from the report is that 16% of the 147 … Read More
TDMR received this letter highlighting the difficulty Medicaid dental providers are having in today’s current economic climate and the need for the legislature this session to take corrective action. We publish it in hopes that it will reach open and … Read More
Becker’s Dental & DSO Review published a list of things about dental care in Texas a while ago. Some of them are not very flattering to this great state. Many underserved areas While Texas has the second most number of … Read More
Texas Health and Human Services is looking for a dental policy analyst for its HHSC Medical and Dental Benefits Program. As they say, “If you enjoy researching, writing policy and remaining current with dental practices, and are interested in being … Read More
This case has finally come to an end. The Court of Appeals, Eighty District in El Paso, on October 14 confirmed the May 2020 lower court summary judgment award obtained by the state against Dr. Richard Malouf for violations of … Read More
A striking aspect of Medicaid fraud news is that it took so long for public officials to figure out that private companies have a profit motive. Also notable is that Managed Care Organizations (MCO) are not only lax in addressing … Read More
State Medicaid Director Stephanie Stephens, in a speech given on September 27 at the 2022 North Texas State of Reform Health Policy Conference, stated that an HHS priority for the upcoming legislative budget is Medicaid provider rates. Provider fees a … Read More
The American Dental Association recently held a webinar in which members of a key study about Medicaid dental practitioners provided details of their findings. Estimate drops by 11% The main takeaway is that the ADA has now readjusted downward from … Read More
TDMR received an email from Texas Health and Human Services this week requesting everyone’s help to come up with ideas to save some dough. Apparently, the Texas Legislature directed HHS to figure out how to save $350 million for the … Read More
OIG recently published the following article on its website which we thought to republish here along with the PDF documents linked to in the article. Texas providers encouraged to self-report overpayments Providers continue to participate in the OIG’s self-report process, … Read More
According to a recent report entitled “Access to Oral Health Workforce Report, Part I” by the Pennsylvania Coalition for Oral Health, the state lost 13.5% of its dentists participating in its Medicaid program between the beginning of 2019 and the … Read More
Ensuring Texas Medicaid dollars are spent for their intended purpose requires the Texas Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) to work with health care professionals to prevent fraud, waste and abuse. Accurate medical and dental coding … Read More
The recent business headlines about Sun Life, the Canadian insurer that purchased DentaQuest earlier this year, and its Q2 financial results are quite bipolar – either dismal or glowing. Good Q2 or not for DentaQuest purchaser Several publications spotlight the … Read More
The American Dental Association has reported that dental services increased 1.9% in June, the highest single-month rise ever recorded since the Department of Labor started keeping track in 1995. Job Market Increases The increase is attributable in part, according to … Read More
The American Dental Association reports that 14 state legislatures have passed progressive legislation regarding Medicaid dental care this year, partly due to increased budget surpluses in those states. Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, and … Read More
Thanks to the excessive prices for oil products due to the attempted embargo of Russian oil to punish the country for its war on Ukraine, the Texas state budget will benefit to the tune of some $27 billion, according to … Read More
The Texas Exclusions Database simplifies applicant screening for Medicaid providers, offering the ability to better protect their patients with real-time verification of potential employees before they are hired. Texas Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) protects … Read More
After our article about the need for a review of Medicaid dental fees was published in May, we received a number of comments from dentists about how the lack of a fee increase is impeding service to their clients and … Read More
TDMR has learned that a number of Medicaid dentists around the state have been receiving informal letters from the Office of Inspector General about their billings. Avoid formal process Apparently, OIG is looking to resolve billing situations informally rather than … Read More
