Dispute leads to State blacklisting dentists
Minister for Social and Family Affairs Mary Coughlan announced last night her department would stop accepting PRSI claims from dentists charging unauthorised fees from this morning.
The move will affect routine work such as fillings and extractions as well as 13 other specified dental procedures.
A dentist who proceeds with the work will be unable to claim part payment from the department and will pass the full cost on to the patient.
Minister Coughlan said the move was to protect patients from overcharging for the portion of treatment not covered by their PRSI contributions.
She advised checking that dentists were only charging agreed fees before going for treatment and has set up a lo-call phone line advertised in today's newspapers to refer people to approved dentists if necessary.
But the Irish Dental Association (IDA) said this arrangement was "irresponsible and misleading" as 91% of dentists operating the PRSI scheme were in dispute with the department.
"There won't be another dentist to go to or at least not one that can automatically take the patient when their appointment is due," said the association's general secretary Donal Atkins.
Mr Atkins said he was disappointed and angry that the move was announced over a bank holiday weekend, especially as a week ago he made a written offer to meet with the department to try to resolve the issue and was expecting a reply.
The dispute has been brewing for two years since the IDA lodged a claim for fee increases above the annual consumer price index increases allowed under the PRSI scheme contract.
Mr Atkins said the increases were necessary because inflation in health costs was running way above normal consumer price rises.
There was no progress on the claim and in March this year most of the 900 dentists operating the scheme introduced new fees in breach of their contracts despite the threat of the sanctions now being imposed.
Minister Coughlan said she was concerned patients would be inconvenienced but added: "Our customers' welfare is our priority and with this in mind we cannot continue to do business with dentists who continue to charge more than the contracted rates."
Mr Atkins said the effect of the action was to deprive PRSI patients of benefits they were legally entitled to.
He also said the minister was in breach of contract because dentists were legally entitled to 90 days formal notice if their involvement in the scheme was being terminated.
