The State of Idaho will receive nearly $93,000 as part of a legal settlement with a company that oversees a national chain of dental clinics.
According to the state Attorney General’s office, the settlement resolves allegations that FORBA Holdings, the management company for Small Smiles Dental Clinics, caused claims to be submitted to Idaho Medicaid for reimbursement for services provided to low-income children.
The services were either medically unnecessary, or performed in a manner that failed to meet professionally-recognized standards of care. Those services included performing root canals on baby teeth; placing crowns; administering anesthesia; performing extractions; providing fillings and/or sealants; and inappropriately using behavior management techniques to restrain child patients.
The AG’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, 22 other states and the federal government joined to resolve allegations of Medicaid fraud.
FORBA will make settlement payments over the next five years – Idaho received the first payment this week.
As part of the settlement, FORBA has signed on to a corporate integrity agreement with the federal government, and the chief dental office must develop policies to ensure that the Small Smiles clinics provide professionally-recognized standards of care.
The investigation was initiated by three whistleblower lawsuits pending in Maryland, Virginia and South Carolina.
