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-WJLA SCRIPT-
ANCHOR:
TONIGHT FROM THE ABC 7 I-TEAM, DRAMATIC NEW DEVELOPMENTS TRIGGERED BY OUR EXCLUSIVE SMALL SMILES INVESTIGATION OF THE NATION'S LARGEST PROVIDER OF DENTAL CARE FOR MEDICAID CHILDREN. FOLLOWING OUR INVESTIGATION...MEDICAID AND SEVERAL PRIVATE INSURERS LAUNCHED THEIR OWN INVESTIGATIONS AND NOW, THEY'VE BEGUN TO TAKE ACTION. THE I TEAM'S ROBERTA BASKIN IS HERE WITH MORE REACTION TO HER EXCLUSIVE REPORTS... ROBERTA?
ROBERTA BASKIN:
MEDICAID SUB-CONTRACTS TO THOSE PRIVATE INSURERS TO PROVIDE DENTAL CARE TO CHILDREN IN NEED. SMALL SMILES HAS BEEN THE BIG BENEFICIARY OF THAT ARRANGEMENT... UNTIL TODAY.
STORY:
The Small Smiles clinic in the District is turning away patients today and like the other four Small Smiles clinics in the area, cancelling most of its June appointments..
"Following audits by private insurance companies discovered hundreds of thousands of dollars in unnecessary dental work. One company reported finding "teeth may have been pulled unnecessarily."
This father doubts his 7 year old son's teeth needed the work Small Smiles recommended.
"He have good teeth so I don't know why they say, fill it up with something."
Doral Dental USA has now terminated four of the 20 Small Smiles dentists in our area from its network and suspended its GROUP practices pending further review.
Colette Phoenix: "I honestly didn't know that they were being audited or even investigated for this." "It does raise some concerns so I'll definitely check into it."
Neither Doral nor Small Smiles will tell us the names of those dentists and declined to be interviewed…but the suspensions affect thousands of families who receive dental care at the chain's five clinics in the district and Maryland.
"After today, you know, I am look into see if I can find another dental clinic for her to go to, for both of them to go to."
Health insurance providers tell us they are contacting families to find new dentists for them.
ROBERTA BASKIN-"Is it difficult for you to find a dentist?"
Mom: "Yeah, yeah, it's difficult."
Our investigation in November exposed callous treatment of children…separating them from parents…strapping them to papoose boards to increase productivity, performing unnecessary procedures, and using unlicensed x-ray technicians.
We also revealed how Small Smiles worked the taxpayer funded Medicaid system.
Dr. Aldred Williams: "They threw up the white flag and said, "Okay, you don't have to preauthorize anything. Just do the work. So we flooded the system."
Doral Dental had suspended Small Smiles for three months following our investigation but has told the state of Maryland is has discovered even more irregularities. It will be another 4-6 weeks for Doral to complete its investigation.
ROBERTA BASKIN IN STUDIO:
UNITED HEALTHCARE, ONE OF THE LARGER INSURANCE COMPANIES CONTINUES TO REFER FAMILIES TO SMALL SMILES DESPITE FINDING MORE THAN A QUARTER OF A MILLION DOLLARS IN QUESTIONABLE TREATMENTS.
MEANWHILE, THE MARYLAND ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE HAS A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION UNDERWAY. WE CONTINUE TO HEAR FROM PATIENTS AND EMPLOYEES FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY ABOUT PROBLEMS WITH SMALL SMILES. KEEP CALLING AND GO TO OUR WEB SITE FOR LINKS AND RESOURCES: WWW.WJLA.COM.
Click here to read Small Smiles audits and suspensions.
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Sure the Medicaid system does not reimburse well. But that is not the problem. The problem starts by children being abused by their parents. And companies like Small Smiles who take advantage of this population of people. This is a HUGE problem. Small Smiles , and others are dirty businesses. But the system is dirty too. And society as a whole is screwed up with its priorities.
Unless you have actually worked in places like Small Smiles- you really have no business commenting of this. It is very clear that there are a lot of abuses going on and that a lot of money is involved.
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