$23.9 Million Settlement over a False Claims Act Allegations Against Kool Smiles Clinics Announced by Whistleblower Institute

San Diego, CA -- (SBWire) -- 05/21/2018 --The Whistleblower Institute announces that Kool Smiles reached a $23.9 million settlement in a whistleblower lawsuit filed by former employees over accusation of unnecessary dental work on children.

Those who have a similar case or experienced a similar situation or any other wrongdoing within a corporation have certain options and should contact the Whistleblower Institute at mail@whistleblowerinstitute.com or call: 619-452–1218. There are no costs or obligations to you.

A settlement has been reached to resolve False Claims Act allegations against Kool Smiles clinics.

The allegations arose from lawsuits that claimed dental management company Benevis LLC and more than 130 of its affiliated Kool Smiles dental clinics knowingly submitted false claims for payment to state Medicaid programs for medically unnecessary dental services performed on children insured by Medicaid.

According to the government, allegedly between January 2009 and December 2011, Kool Smiles clinics knowingly submitted false claims for unnecessary baby root canals, tooth extractions and stainless steel crowns.

Allegedly, Kool Smiles clinics routinely pressured and incentivized dentists to meet production goals through a system that disciplined "unproductive" dentists and awarded "productive" dentists with substantial cash bonuses based on the revenue generated by the procedures they performed. According to the settlement agreement, complaints from Kool Smiles' own dentists about the medically unnecessary procedures were ignored.

"The allegations in these cases are particularly egregious because they involved medically unnecessary dental services performed on children," said U.S. Attorney John H. Durham for the District of Connecticut. "Exploiting needy children for financial gain is inexcusable. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Connecticut is committed to aggressively pursuing health care providers that submit fraudulent claims to government health care programs."

Reportedly, of the $23.9 million to be paid by Benevis and its affiliated Kool Smiles clinics, the federal government will receive a total of $14,244,073.49, plus interest, and a total of $9,655,926.51, plus interest, will be returned to individual states, which jointly funded improper claims submitted to state Medicaid programs.

"The companies strongly disagree with the government's allegations," Benevis and Kool Smiles said in a statement that pointed out that the settlement is not related to quality of dental care.

Three whistleblowers, former Kool Smiles employees, will get more than $2.4 million as part of the settlement.

Based in Marietta, Georgia, Kool Smiles is a dental services provider, based in the United States with over 100 offices located across 16 different states.

The Whistleblower Institute is an information portal for current or former employees and other people having insight information about wrongdoing and other illegal activities by individuals either individually or within corporations, through company culture and or within international affairs. Whistleblowers should keep in mind that under the Dodd-Frank Act any person who provides the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") with original information that leads to a successful enforcement action with over $1 million recovered must be awarded between 10%-30% of the total amount recovered. In order to determine the total amount of the reward there are numerous factors that need to be considered. Whistleblower actions are complex and our goal is to guide any whistleblower every step of the way. The Whistleblower Institute is dedicated to partnering with any individual who have information about fraud and we work with many of the best law firms worldwide.

Those who have a similar case or experienced a similar situation or any other wrongdoing within a corporation have certain options and should contact the Whistleblower Institute.

Contact:
Whistleblower Institute
2534 State Street - Suite 406
San Diego, CA 92101, USA
Phone: +1 (619) 452–1218
Facsimile: +1 (619) 785 – 3185
Email: mail@whistleblowerinstitute.com

The material was prepared by the Whistleblower Institute for informational purposes only and is not legal or financial advice. The information is provided only as general information which may or may not reflect the most currently available public information, is not provided as a basis for any established or existing relationship, and is not intended to constitute legal or financial advice, or to substitute for obtaining such advice from an attorney or other advisor licensed in your state.