Media

Bryan Black is the new press officer for the Office of Communications. He joins HHSC following his service as the communications director at the Texas Department of Agriculture. During Black’s tenure at TDA, he transformed the department into a premier … Read More

AUSTIN – Texas Health and Human Services Executive Commissioner Chris Traylor today announced John Scott is stepping down as chief operating officer of The Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC). Scott joined HHSC in January, where he served as the … Read More

McALLEN — A Pharr woman pleaded guilty Friday for her role in connection with a federal healthcare insurance fraud scheme, prosecutors said. Martha Lidia Flores admitted to engaging in a kickback scheme of exchanging referrals of Medicare beneficiaries for money … Read More

Channel 8’s Byron Harris announced Friday that he’ll retire in October. Ed Bark posted a solid story Monday about the investigative reporter and his 40 years at the TV station. I’d like to go in a slightly different direction. Harris … Read More

Law360, New York (August 27, 2015, 2:12 PM ET) — A Texas federal judge recused himself Wednesday from a False Claims Act suit against a medical center, days after the defendants revealed his cousin could be a key witness. The … Read More

AUSTIN — A lawsuit that sought to block deep cuts in what Medicaid pays for disabled children and poor elderly Texans’ therapies has delayed the rate changes for a month but otherwise forced no change in the state’s plans. On … Read More

A Texas jury on Tuesday acquitted a former Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas executive of a felony charge that he deceived the agency’s executive director and general counsel to get an $11.04 million grant approved for a pharmaceutical … Read More

A McAllen area doctor accused in June of filing fraudulent Medicare claims involving deceased patients faces new charges after he continued to file false claims, federal investigators said. Source: Doctor accused of filing claims for dead patients faces new charges … Read More

Another 100 Florida hospitals — 17 of which are in the Tampa Bay area — will be audited by the state to determine whether they’re receiving more in Medicaid payments than legally allowed, Gov. Rick Scott said Monday. They join … Read More

Empire State Home Care Services has agreed to pay $6 million as part of a settlement with the New York state attorney general to resolve allegations of improper Medicaid billing. Source: Brooklyn Medicaid Fraud Case Settled

On the streets of Managua, the shuttle bus wrapped in a giant ad for free health care stood out. “Medicare for people living abroad,” it proclaimed above the image of a cheerful older woman playing golf. But Medicare, the American … Read More

Los Angeles, California – The owner and operator of three medical clinics located in Los Angeles pleaded guilty today to submitting more than $4.5 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare. Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s … Read More

August 17, 2015 — California legislators took the first step in resolving oral health disparities by hiring the state’s first dental director, Jayanth Kumar, DDS, MPH. Dr. Kumar, who officially started the position on August 1, will create and implement a … Read More

Health care fraud is one of the government’s costliest problems. It’s a hall of mirrors where billions of dollars are lost to swindlers looking to cash in on the millions of transactions generated by insurance-paying agencies every day. Last year, … Read More

Acting state Comptroller Marc Larkins hired a friend to oversee the multimillion-dollar Medicaid Fraud Division, angering longtime employees who feared the perception of cronyism in the watchdog office, NJ Advance Media has learned. The Comptroller’s Office is intended to be … Read More

A district court judge on Wednesday handed state Medicaid regulators another decisive courtroom loss, adding one more notch to the Health and Human Service Commission’s Office of Inspector General’s unenviable losing streak pursuing dentists and orthodontists it claims have bilked … Read More

August 13, 2015 — The number of large dental practices is growing, along with their profits and the number of people they employ, according to a new research brief by the ADA Health Policy Institute. The trend in recent years … Read More

Home health agencies providing pediatric therapy services, along with the mothers of five children in Travis and Williamson counties, turned to the courts Tuesday to stop Texas officials from imposing program cuts totaling $350 million.Most of those receiving the speech, … Read More

Fresh off a House Subcommittee hearing in which legislators grilled the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services regarding Part D fraud controls, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report this week noting that four state Medicaid programs spent $33 million in 2011 … Read More

SOUTHINGTON — A local dentist who resides in Southbury was arrested today for defrauding Medicaid, according to the Department of Justice. Thomas L. Derienzo, 58, of Bucks Hill Road, is accused of billing Medicaid for more expensive procedures than he … Read More

Months after he was put on paid administrative leave amid an investigation into the Texas Health and Human Services Commission’s contracting procedures, Cody Cazares, the former chief of staff to the commission’s top lawyer, has left the agency. Cazares, the former chief … Read More

The CMS has awarded SafeGuard Services a contract worth up to $300 million to help prevent and identify Medicare fraud. SGS is a subsidiary of Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Services and performs data analysis, investigations and medical reviews to detect, prevent, deter … Read More

DALLAS – Alexis C. Norman, 47, of Midlothian, Texas, appeared in federal court this morning before U.S. Magistrate Judge David L. Horan and pleaded guilty to one count of health care fraud, announced John Parker, U.S. Attorney for the Northern … Read More

In January, Stuart Bowen took charge of a state office rocked by accusations of corruption, incompetence and inefficiency. Responsible for ferreting out fraud amid the programs and procedures of the sprawling Health and Human Services Commission, the office of Inspector General … Read More

WHY WE DID THIS STUDY Prior to passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), if a State terminated the participation of a provider from its Medicaid program, the provider could potentially participate in another State’s Medicaid program, … Read More

Some healthcare providers dropped by state Medicaid programs because of fraud or quality problems were still participating in other states’ programs, contrary to requirements in ObamaCare, according to an inspector general report. The Affordable Care Act requires that a state … Read More

AUSTIN — Even as they left nearly $18 billion unspent, Texas lawmakers ordered a $350 million cut this year to Medicaid pay for therapists who perform one of health care’s most exacting jobs.In a two-year budget that was flush enough … Read More

August 5, 2015 — Dentists working in a dental service organization (DSO) are more satisfied with the amount of hours worked during a week, but less so with their income, compared with dentists working with dentist-owned-and-operated practices (DOOs), according to … Read More

The transition from a reactive approach to relying on claims data to better predict and prevent fraudulent payments has led to significant progress in fighting Medicare and Medicaid fraud, former Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Don Berwick told the … Read More

What GAO Found GAO identified four key issues facing the Medicaid program, based on prior work. Access to care : Medicaid enrollees report access to care that is generally comparable to that of privately insured individuals and better than that … Read More

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was arrested and booked in Collin County around 10:30 a.m. Monday on three counts of felony securities law violations that allegedly took place before he became a statewide official in January. Source: Ken Paxton arrested, … Read More

President Barack Obama gave Medicare and Medicaid, the federal and state health care entitlements for the elderly and poor, respectively, a clean bill of financial health in his weekly addresson Saturday as he marked the programs’ 50th birthday. “Today, we’re often … Read More

Enrollment in private insurance plans has soared as the government has tried control costs and improve care for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries. Source: As Medicare and Medicaid Turn 50, Use of Private Health Plans Surges – The New York Times

July 29, 2015 — Spending for dental care will grow 60% during the next decade, according to a new report in Health Affairs. Spending for dental services was $97.3 billion in 2007 and is projected to grow from $114.5 billion … Read More

HOUSTON—Dr. Dennis B. Barson Jr., 42, has been ordered to federal prison following his convictions related to a conspiracy to defraud Medicare of $2.1 million in less than two months, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson. A federal jury convicted Barson … Read More

A Michigan resident was sentenced to 80 months in prison late yesterday for his leading role in a $12.6 million Medicare fraud and tax fraud scheme.  Eleven other individuals have been convicted in this case. Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell … Read More

Newly released documents show the federal government attempted to collect $16.7 million from the state after alleging four New Mexico companies that provide in-home health care services didn’t comply with the rules for submitting Medicaid reimbursement claims. In June 2012, … Read More

A Dallas-area woman has pleaded guilty in a $1.6 million Medicaid scam over false claims using the names of legitimate counselors. Brenda Ward of Cedar Hill faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. Ward on … Read More

The former CEO of Summit Point in Battle Creek is facing criminal charges for spending more than half a million dollars in public funds on a fortuneteller. Summit Pointe is a Community Mental Health Authority, contracted through the State, that … Read More

Patients who say they received bad treatment from dentists are speaking out about the lack of oversight by the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners. Four years ago, News 8 began revealing cases of patient recruiting, poor quality of care … Read More