Dentist Alms pleads guilty to Medicaid fraud

Last week, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced that Dr. Thomas H. Alms of Mt. Vernon, pleaded guilty to committing a class C felony of Medicaid fraud, following an investigation and prosecution by his office. Alms was ordered to repay $200,000 to the Medicaid program and surrender his license to practice dentistry and has been placed on probation for five years.
“The Medicaid program provides health benefits to low income families who don’t have access to health care,” Schmitt said. “Cheating the system is actually cheating all the Missourians who rely on Medicaid and the taxpayers of the state of Missouri. When we find cases of Medicaid fraud, we will take action.”
Dr. Alms operated a dental clinic in Mt. Vernon where between Aug. 21, 2014 and June 14, 2016 he submitted numerous false claims for bone grafts, fillings, pulp vitality tests, pre-orthodontic visits, and office visits. An investigation by the Missouri Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, that included expert examination of some of Dr. Alms’ patients, revealed the fraudulent schemes that led to Dr. Alms plea of guilty.
The case was investigated by Amanda Burrows of the Missouri Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and prosecuted by Assistant Attorneys General Shannon T. Kempf and Brad Crowell along with Don Trotter, Lawrence County Prosecuting Attorney.