Press Release  Quincy Dentist to Pay $750,000 Over Claims of Improperly Billing MassHealth for Emergency Dental Services

Boston — A Quincy dentist has agreed to pay $750,000 over allegations of improperly billing the state’s Medicaid program for emergency dental services, resulting in thousands of dollars of overpayments, Attorney General Maura Healey announced today.

“We allege this dentist knowingly and frequently misused this code to overbill MassHealth for emergency services that were not provided,” AG Healey said. “This settlement will provide restitution to MassHealth and taxpayers, and require the practice’s full compliance with the law going forward.”

The settlement resolves allegations that from January 2005 to December 2013, Dr. Jennifer Lee and her corporation, Wollaston Dental Care, fraudulently billed MassHealth using a specific code used to bill for palliative emergency treatment of minor dental pain. The AG’s investigation discovered that Lee was routinely billing this code at nearly every patient visit when the dental services provided did not meet the criteria for billing this code.

Lee currently operates both Wollaston Dental Care in Quincy and Alpine Dental in Malden. According to the settlement, Lee and her practice have agreed to comply with all applicable state and federal statutes, and all applicable regulations governing their participation in MassHealth.

This matter was handled by Assistant Attorney General David M. Scheffler, and Investigator Lisa Bailey of Attorney General Maura Healey’s Medicaid Fraud Division, with assistance from MassHealth.

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