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<img src=" http://www.joplinglobeonline.com/images/zope/new.gif" border=0>Dentist pleads guilty to Medicaid fraud
Joplin dentist Samuel A. Miller pleaded guilty today in Jasper County Circuit Court to 13 counts of Medicaid fraud.
Miller, 45, faces up to four years in prison and a $5,000 fine on each of the counts. Miller will be sentenced by Circuit Judge David Dally on Jan. 4 following the completion of a sentencing-assessment report by the local probation office.
Prosecutors alleged that Miller, who primarily served pediatric patients, submitted false reimbursement claims to the state’s Medicaid program in 2005 and 2006 for procedures he never performed. The false claims involved root canals, tooth extractions and resurfacings, according to Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster, whose office’s fraud-control unit is prosecuting the case with the assistance of the Jasper County prosecutor.
Koster said after the hearing that the state loses millions of dollars each year as a result of Medicaid fraud.
“This kind (of) illegal conduct denies medical resources that would otherwise be directed to truly needy Missourians,” he said.
Koster said the full extent of Miller’s fraud and the amount of restitution the state will seek from him have yet to be determined, but a news release from his office stated that the dentist received about $13,500 for false claims.
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