Medicaid investigation reveals $40 million in dental fraud
A probe into New York’s Medicaid health program has revealed that around 40 million dollars worth of treatments and examinations were improperly conducted over a period of five years. The figures were announced by state Controller Thomas DiNapoli who said, in a news statement, ‘New York needs to root out the rot in the Medicaid dental system.’
The probe’s audit revealed that taxpayer’s money was being used to treat patients more times than they were entitled to under the program and that clinics in New York were getting paid more through the program than most other US states. Examples of the fraudulent abuse of the program included a clinic being paid to examine a patient’s teeth over seventy times during a four-year period, when the limit for the same period is only eight examinations.
The figures came after an audit reviewed over $400 million in Medicaid transactions during a five-year period and Mr. DiNapoli has called for the states Health Department to introduce stricter billing controls.
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