Income tax crackdown on Freebies to doctors

MEDICARE is investigating hundreds of dentists over possible misuse of government funds as it tries to recoup almost $20 million of benefits paid in the past four years.
Minutes from an extraordinary meeting of an Australian Dental Association branch, obtained by The Age, warn the investigation could force dentists into bankruptcy.
The Age believes the huge investigation has already uncovered instances where dentists have billed Medicare for work that was never done. In other cases, dentists have failed to prepare paperwork explaining what treatment was given.
Dr Dragan Antolos, a Lower Templestowe dentist with 28 years’ experience, said he was shocked when Medicare recently asked him to repay $90,000 because of late paperwork.
He said the repayments were ordered for about 40 patients because he sent letters to their GPs about his work with them last year outside the required time. When he was audited by Medicare this year, he was told the delays were unacceptable.
”I feel like I’m in an episode of South Park or something,” he said yesterday. ”I’ve tried to do my best with the patients and now I feel like I’m being robbed … I haven’t done anything wrong.”
Dr Antolos said he suspected the government had underestimated how many people with chronic disabilities would use the scheme and was trying to cut the cost by suggesting dentists had done the wrong thing.
Medicare has identified 626 dentists for audit overuse of the Chronic Disease Dental Scheme but has completed only 60 investigations. Almost a third had failed to comply with the requirements of the scheme.
An extraordinary meeting of the Tasmanian branch of the Australian Dental Association, addressed by federal president Shane Fryer, claimed the audits were motivated by budget blowouts.
The meeting heard that the Minister for Human Services, Tanya Plibersek, was approached over the audits but ”was not prepared to broadly exonerate all those members caught up in non-compliance”.
Dr Fryer said he was not aware of any proven cases of fraud.
He said dentists who had failed to prepare paperwork relating to the benefits should not be forced to repay money because many dentists did not understand that this was a requirement of Medicare.
”When it comes down to the nitty-gritty, the vast majority of dentists probably to one degree or another have not been compliant with the administrative requirements,” he said.
”If someone’s done the wrong thing, the ADA position is ‘throw the book at them’.
”But what we’re looking at is fairness and not throwing the baby out with the bathwater.”
The Chronic Disease Dental Scheme allows patients with chronic illnesses to claim up to $4250 in Medicare benefits for dental work, as long as they are referred to a dentist by their general practitioner.
The Age has been told of instances where dentists have billed patients for the upper end of the benefit, but carried out procedures worth only a fraction of that price.
In other cases, Medicare is investigating dentists over charging for work that was never performed. Dr Fryer said he had no knowledge of either rort.
He confirmed a case in which Medicare has ordered a Victorian dentist to repay $700,000 in benefits, although he said 70 per cent of that money would have been spent on expenses.
A spokesman for Health Minister Nicola Roxon said Medicare provided clear guidelines to dentists. ”As is the case with all health practitioners claiming Medicare benefits, dentists must fulfil all of the requirements when making a claim.”