Audit: Dentist overbills Nevada Medicaid $285,000

By Cy Ryan

Monday, June 29, 2015 | 2:44 p.m.

CARSON CITY — An unidentified dentist overbilled Nevada’s Medicaid program by more than $285,000 in fiscal 2012 and 2013, according to an audit reviewed last week by the Legislative Commission.

Laurie Squartsoff, administrator of Medicaid for Nevada, said the dentist has been eliminated from the list of those authorized to treat Medicaid patients and has since left the state. The case has been turned over to the federal Office of Inspector General for Medicaid, she said.

But that didn’t satisfy some members of the commission, including Assemblyman Lynn Stewart, R-Henderson, who called for possible criminal charges and efforts made to collect the overpayments.

“I hope we can get some action,” he said today.

The state Attorney General’s Office said it has not been notified of the case.

Debra Shaffer Kugel, executive director of the state Board of Dental Examiners, said the board has not received any complaints from the state about the dentist.

The audit zeroed in on the dentist in question, saying he submitted at least 80 percent of Medicaid claims statewide for treatment of dental complications, office visits for observation and pulp vitality tests. A pulp vitality test is conducted to examine the integrity of a tooth nerve.

In one case, 28 claims for pulp testing were submitted for one patient on the same day.

The audit identified $780,000 in overbilling claims by all dentists. Squartsoff said efforts are being made to recover those overpayments.