Australian Dentists Ordered to Pay Back Millions of Dollars
A number of Australian dentists have been ordered to pay back a total of millions of dollars, after an investigation revealed that they had been falsely claiming payments through the Commonwealth Chronic Disease dental scheme.
The investigation, which was carried out by the Federal Human Services Department, found that 48 dentists had wrongly claimed money from the scheme.
The scheme was set up towards the end of the previous government’s tenure at a cost of $300 million; however, the scheme now costs more than 2.2 billion dollars.
The scheme was designed specifically for people with chronic diseases to provide them with up to $4,000 worth of dental care, however, this is no longer the case, as Human Services Minister, Brendan O’Connor explained to the press. Mr O’Connor said that the system is no longer effective because wealthy people with chronic diseases may get their dental care paid for, while a pensioner with no money has to pay for their treatment.
The Federal Human Services Department investigations have so far found 48 dentists guilty of making false claims, with another 540 still under investigation. The 48 dentists have been ordered to pay a total of $21.5 million between them.
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