Media

Former First Assistant Attorney General Chip Roy on Friday defended receiving thousands of dollars in salary and benefits after leaving the attorney general’s office to join a pro-Ted Cruz super PAC. In a written statement to the Tribune, Roy responded to a report Thursday in … Read More

AUSTIN — The state is paying thousands of dollars in salaries and benefits to at least two former high-level staffers in Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office who haven’t worked there for over a month. Charles “Chip” Roy resigned as first … Read More

Texas Health and Human Services Commission officials say they have no choice but to carry out the will of lawmakers and cut $350 million from the state’s Medicaid program.In September, state District Judge Tim Sulak temporarily blocked implementation of the … Read More

The Texas Rangers have launched a criminal investigation into Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller‘s use of taxpayer funds to bankroll two out-of-state trips, the Department of Public Safety confirmed Wednesday. The investigation follows complaints filed by the liberal advocacy group Progress … Read More

An Angelina County grand jury has indicted a Lufkin hearing center owner accused of charging Medicaid for services that were not performed by properly licensed personnel. Richard Charles Geraci, 50, of Lufkin, has been booked in and out of the … Read More

April 13, 2016 — I said it. And the marketplace backs me up. We are already seeing the effects of an increased number of dentists graduating, increased capacity per dentist, dentists practicing longer in general, and nondentists performing functions that … Read More

Federal charges of money laundering were filed against a former Tulsa dentist previously accused of infecting patients with HIV and hepatitis.The attorney representing one of Harrington’s former patients said the latest federal charge comes as no surprise.Scott Harrington is accused … Read More

Hefty cuts to a state Medicaid program that pays for poor and disabled Texans to receive in-home therapy won’t endanger patient lives or destroy livelihoods, a state district judge was told Tuesday. Coming from a major health insurer that covers … Read More

A recent court ruling in favor of a Texas orthodontics provider adds to the state’s longstanding inability to prove claims that dental providers overbilled Medicaid tens of millions of dollars, according to the Austin American-Statesman. In the latest case, an … Read More

In an important win for hospice and other health care providers facing claims under the False Claims Act (FCA), a federal court in Alabama gave a summary judgment victory last week to hospice provider Aseracare Inc. Key Takeaway A difference … Read More

When Brianna Dupuie was a year old, a babysitter shook her so hard she had a stroke that paralyzed her right side. Everything Brianna had learned to do — how to walk, crawl and speak — was erased.In the seven … Read More

Lucy Nashed, communications director for Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, has resigned after the agriculture department gave contradictory reports to different media outlets on whether Miller had used state funds to compete in a rodeo. Nashed, who worked for former … Read More

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has been charged in federal court with allegedly misleading investors in a technology company. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed the charges Monday in a Sherman-based court. They are similar to the allegations Paxton … Read More

Here’s an unusual story out of Texas which seems to defy all the conventional wisdom about employment trends and wages. The local press has noticed that nursing homes are having trouble filling the health care jobs at their facilities these … Read More

Texas must do more to protect dental patients from deadly sedation risks, according to a state report released Wednesday. Building on findings of a 2015 Dallas Morning Newsinvestigation, the report says state regulators largely failed to oversee sedation practices in … Read More

State Medicaid regulators pursuing orthodontists who they claim bilked Texas out of tens of millions of dollars suffered another decisive setback Thursday, when an appeals court ruled investigators hadn’t proven any fraud had occurred in one of the state’s largest … Read More

A Zachary home health care business owner accused of violating Louisiana’s sparingly used racketeering statute in an alleged Medicaid fraud scheme pleaded guilty this week to a racketeering charge and faces up to 50 years in prison when she is … Read More

What was a woman accused of 11 counts of dependent adult abuse and ongoing criminal conduct doing working for AmeriHealth Caritas Iowa, one of the three private, out-of-state Medicaid management companies hired by the state to serve low-income and disabled Iowans?That … Read More

Two people are facing federal charges in connection with defrauding and scheming to defraud through false billing via their local medical equipment companies. But the two cases, however similar, are not linked to each other, according to a news release … Read More

ALBUQUERQUE (AP) – The last two of 15 mental health nonprofit providers under investigation for possible Medicaid fraud have been cleared by New Mexico’s top prosecutor. Attorney General Hector Balderas is sending a letter to state lawmakers Tuesday, informing them … Read More

WHY WE DID THIS STUDY The Office of Inspector General (OIG) oversees the activities of all Medicaid Fraud Control Units (MFCUs or Units). As part of this oversight, OIG conducts periodic reviews of all Units and prepares public reports based … Read More

TALLAHASSEE — If there’s one subject that rivals the prominence of job creation in Gov. Rick Scott’s rhetoric, it’s Rick Perry.Scott has made a habit of mentioning the former Texas governor, a fellow Republican, in nearly all of his speeches … Read More

TALLAHASSEE — A controversial measure that removes dental care from the required list of benefits Medicaid HMOs must offer patients beginning 2019 and requires the state to enter a five- year, non-renewable contract with a separate vendor will be heard … Read More

Governor Greg Abbott has named Steve Austin chair of the State Board of Dental Examiners. The governor has also appointed Diane Garza for a term set to expire February 1, 2017, appointed Bryan Henderson, II, Jorge Quirch and Rich Villa … Read More

March 28, 2016 — Florida Gov. Rick Scott has signed a bill that will study possible changes to the way Medicaid recipients receive dental care in that state. Currently, the state’s Medicaid managed-care system requires HMOs to cover dental services. … Read More

SANTA FE – A health care company that tried to root out fraud in New Mexico’s Medicaid program has now been accused of committing Medicaid fraud itself. Three lawsuits filed against OptumHealth Inc. this year accuse the company of malfeasance stemming … Read More

When agencies that receive Medicaid reimbursements are accused of fraud, it can impact that provider as well as its patients for months at a time—regardless of whether any parties are ever found guilty.Four U.S. lawmakers recently introduced a bill meant … Read More

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WNCT) – Terry Lamont Speller, 38, was sentenced to 240 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release following his guilty plea to Medicaid fraud. The Winterville-native was also ordered to pay back the money he … Read More

A vast web of bribes, kickbacks, counterfeit hardware and a legislative loophole allowed one California spine surgeon to cash in on spinal fusion surgeries for which the state paid millions of dollars, according to an article by Los Angeles Magazine. … Read More

Back in 2012, I delved into a topic of utmost importance and surprising depth: children’s dental health. For years, many dentists chose not to treat Medicaid patients. From an economic point of view, it was really no surprise; providers willing … Read More

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — A man accused of defrauding the South Dakota Medicaid program has been sentenced to two years of probation and ordered to pay back $990. Thirty-eight-year-old Tanka Bhujel pleaded guilty in state court to one count of … Read More

Commentary:  U.S. Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich, and U.S. Reps. Ben Ray Luján and Michelle Lujan Grisham introduced the Medicaid Program Integrity Enhancement Act of 2016. The bill protects Medicaid patients by establishing clear guidelines that ensure that state agencies investigating … Read More

A former official with Arizona’s health care program for the poor pleaded guilty Tuesday to fraud and theft charges in a case in which he was accused of stealing millions in public money. Michael John Veit, the former chief procurement … Read More

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said Thursday that Ohio’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit ranks first in the nation for the number of convictions secured in fiscal year 2015, according to a statistical summary of Medicaid fraud control units in all … Read More

Xerox is on a list of 27 large and profitable companies that paid no income tax last year. A report in the USA Today lists Xerox as one of several profitable companies that reported negative income tax expenses in 2015. … Read More

Last year, the Medicaid program celebrated its golden anniversary. A lot has changed over the last 50 years. Originally created in 1965 as a joint federal-state program to provide health care coverage for low-income, vulnerable Americans, it is now the … Read More

On Jan. 6, Nevaeh Hall was running, playing and laughing at a Chuck E. Cheese indoor playground and game room.The next day, after a morning dental appointment, the 4 year old was in an ambulance en route to Texas Children’s … Read More

While Texas lawmakers are studying ways to reduce costs in the state’s Medicaid program for the poor and disabled, health insurance companies are making a business pitch. Health plans could save the state roughly $100 million per year, they say, … Read More

HOUSTON – The leader and four others charged in a $13 million Medicare and Medicaid health care fraud case have entered guilty pleas for their respective roles, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson. Mkrtich “Mike” Yepremian, 58, of Houston, pleaded guilty … Read More

Republican presidential front-runner candidate Donald Trump on Wednesday unveiled proposals for reforming U.S. healthcare that included repealing Obamacare, allowing prescription drugs to be imported, and turning the Medicaid program for the poor into block grants to states. The plan also … Read More