Some NY dentists reportedly pay for Medicaid patients

Dentists in New York City are reportedly using "hawkers" to attract Medicaid cardholders in Harlem to their clinics with promises of cash, according to a story in the New York Post.

Young men standing on the corners of 123rd St. and Lexington Ave. and 124th St. and Lexington Ave. on March 26 were reportedly yelling, "Dentist, dentist, dentist! Get paid $20 to $40! Medicaid!" and "Money, money, money! Make some money! Go to the dentist!" according to the Post.

Takers were then escorted into a waiting van and driven to a dental office in the Bronx.

The so-called hawkers told a Post reporter that anyone with a Medicaid card would be paid $20 for a dental cleaning and $40 for partial denture work. But dentists at the Bronx office where the Medicaid cardholders were taken denied knowing anything about the setup, according to the Post.

The practice is illegal and often a sign of fraud, according to the New York State Office of the Medicaid Inspector General, the Post reported.

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