Two Connecticut dental practices and their owners have agreed to pay over $714,000 to settle allegations that they violated federal and state False Claims Acts. The settlement resolves claims that Dent Plus Family Dentistry, PLLC of Stamford, L&M Family Dentistry, LLC of New Haven, and their owners, Ivan Makar, DDS and Oleg Losin, DDS, submitted improper claims to the Connecticut Medical Assistance Program (CTMAP), which includes the state's Medicaid program.
According to authorities, the dental practices paid a third-party patient recruiting company for each Medicaid patient referred to them. This arrangement allegedly violated both their CTMAP provider agreements and the federal Anti-Kickback Statute. The Connecticut Dental Health Partnership (CTDHP) provider manual explicitly prohibits per-patient compensation for referrals.
The government alleged that with each claim submitted for payment, Dent Plus Family Dentistry, L&M Family Dentistry, and their owners certified compliance with all relevant conditions—including not paying kickbacks or violating CTDHP rules—when in fact they had engaged in prohibited referral payments.
To resolve these allegations without admitting liability, Makar and Losin paid $714,446.27 to reimburse the Medicaid program for conduct occurring between January 1, 2019 and September 6, 2020.
The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General; the Connecticut Attorney General’s Office; and the Connecticut Department of Social Services. Assistant U.S. Attorney Anne Thidemann and Assistant Attorney General Joshua L. Jackson prosecuted the case.
"People who suspect health care fraud are encouraged to report it by calling 1-800-HHS-TIPS."
