Reporters at the Post have uncovered yet another incidence of a potential Medicaid scam in which Harlem hustlers herd patients to dental offices, offering them small cash payments to get teeth cleanings or denture work. This time a 27-year-old street seller named Jose, who works with crew of five to seven others was ready, even eager, to chat. "I know this is a multimillion-dollar thing we're doing out here, and it's bad," he said. "Yes, [the dentists] know it's illegal. They don't care. They bill [Medicaid] $300 to $350 [for each person].
"Dentist, dentist, dentist! Get paid to go to the dentist!" he yelled to passersby on 123rd Street near Third Avenue. Part of the reason Jose, a shelter dweller, wanted to talk may have been that he sometimes makes just $50 a day. But since he has a criminal record, he claims to have few other options. "I'm not planning to do this anymore," he said. "I know this is a federal offense, a felony, and I don't want to get locked up." He added a shout-out to President Obama: "It's hurting Medicaid, especially with all this health-care stuff going on," he said.
After yesterday's expose of two clinics using the fraudulent technique, a spokeswoman for the government program promised to "follow up," saying that Medicaid took the new information "seriously."
