Media

If Jack Stick could be any animal, he would be a liger. A cross-breed between a lion and a tiger might seem like a whimsical answer to the question posed in the 2011 job interview, just before he was hired … Read More

AUSTIN, TEXAS A top deputy at Texas’ massive state health agency received the job without any competition and then was granted nearly $100,000 to pay for his graduate school tuition, according to state records. Casey Haney, a former aide to … Read More

In violation of its own policy, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission paid $97,020 so a top aide to Commissioner Kyle Janek — and former aide to ousted chief counsel Jack Stick — could pursue an MBA degree, The … Read More

AUSTIN – A well-connected former political aide landed a lucrative job at Texas’ sprawling state health commission without having to apply, and then got his boss to give him a lump sum of nearly $100,000 in taxpayer dollars to fund … Read More

Gov.-elect Greg Abbott said Thursday he wants to replace the Texas Sunset Commission with a citizen-led panel on government waste. Speaking at the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s annual Policy Orientation conference, Abbott said the Sunset system “seldom eliminates unnecessary agencies.” … Read More

Everybody knows going to the dentist is important, yet half of American adults skip out on regular dental care. Some avoid dentistry out of fear of pain or sheer busyness, but a large portion of Americans can’t afford it without … Read More

AUSTIN –Texas state health officials have decided not to release any more records about a controversial no-bid contract until a criminal investigation has been completed, reversing an earlier pledge to produce the public documents. Spokeswoman Stephanie Goodman told reporters this … Read More

A state senator wants the Texas auditor to review how a private firm was selected to operate a state psychiatric hospital in Terrell. The request from state Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, is the second recent call for an audit of the way … Read More

A New York City dentist from Rockland is facing felony counts of defrauding Medicaid by submitting phony bills for care he didn’t provide, officials said Thursday. Howard Rothenberg, 64, of West Nyack, was charged with billing the taxpayer-funded health insurance … Read More

COLUMBUS — Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced Tuesday that Ohio has joined four states and the federal government to settle allegations that one of the leading providers of dialysis services in the United States paid illegal kickbacks to induce … Read More

A leading state senator says she will propose tougher safeguards against unethical behavior by those involved in awarding contracts to the private vendors who increasingly deliver medical care and social services to vulnerable Texans. Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, is … Read More

New Mexico’s Medicaid director, who was involved in the state’s controversial behavioral health shake-up in 2013, is leaving her $103,000-a-year position later this month to go to work for the private contractor that had set the provider overhaul in motion. … Read More

January 6, 2015 — Due to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Medicaid market for dental care will grow significantly nationwide, according to new research by the ADA Health Policy Institute. But translating expanded Medicaid dental benefits … Read More

The chair of an influential legislative panel is calling for stronger rules to limit conflicts of interest in state contracting as well as increased oversight of major contracts like the multi-million-dollar no-bid deal awarded to Austin tech company 21CT. State … Read More

A no-bid state contract for $110 million, state officials being shown the door and the agency’s top official insisting he was misled. It all points to a need for more strenuous oversight at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. … Read More

One of three Texas Health and Human Services Commission employees put on paid administrative leave amid a probe into the agency’s contracting procedures is facing a 50 percent cut to his salary. Cody Cazares, who was until recently the chief … Read More

At the the start of a new year, it’s traditional to hope for changes that would improve on last year. And yet, some very dysfunctional aspects of our lives are bound to stay the same, even deteriorate — and the same happens to be true … Read More

The chief of staff for Jack Stick, the former top Texas health official at the center of a criminal inquiry over his handling of a medicaid fraud contract, saw his salary more than double in three years, to $112,000. Cody … Read More

January 2, 2015 — A federal judge has ruled that the 1.9 million children who depend on the Florida Medicaid program for medical and dental care are not receiving the care required by federal law. Federal Judge Adalberto Jordan found … Read More

December 30, 2014 — A new report from the University of North Dakota (UND) found that the state is fighting the same distribution-of-care issues as many other states, despite having one of the highest Medicaid dental reimbursement rates in the … Read More

To be sure, the mishandling of contracts involving tens of millions of dollars in public money by the state Health and Human Services Commission exposes the agency’s grave incompetence in oversight, but also points to a Legislature that has failed … Read More

An Austin tech executive gave political contributions to Republican House Speaker Joe Straus and other lawmakers days before her company sought approval of a $90 million contract that is now the focus of a criminal investigation, a newspaper reported Saturday. … Read More

One of the enduring idiosyncracies of Texas politics is that behavior that would easily raise concerns over corruption in many states is legal, normal, and even encouraged, as when legislators argue that their concurrent business interests give them expertise rather … Read More

Days before a key panel of legislators would be asked last month to rubber-stamp a now-canceled $90 million deal with Austin tech firm 21CT, the company’s chief executive tried to contribute thousands of dollars to the decision-makers. Facing the final … Read More

AUSTIN — The White House’s signature health care law is loathed by Texas’ political leadership, and the idea of expanding Medicaid likely remains a non-starter when the Legislature reconvenes this month. But Gov.-elect Greg Abbott and many top conservatives support … Read More

An incendiary lawsuit over the business practices of one of the companies running KanCare, the Brownback administration’s privatization of Kansas’ $3 billion Medicaid program, just got more explosive. The company, Sunflower State Health Plan, responded this week to a lawsuit … Read More

AUSTIN – The deal was sweet enough to cost Jack Stick his job as the top lawyer at Texas’s sprawling state health agency: a multimillion-dollar contract given without competition to a local company with no experience in the field. Three … Read More

Forget about losing weight and quitting smoking, Texans need to resolve to pay more attention in 2015. The recent controversies, suspected fraud, and backroom deals taking place within Texas state agencies are happening so fast that it’s hard to keep … Read More

AUSTIN — Serious conflict of interest and oversight problems plagued a massive telecommunications deal between AT&T and the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, state auditors said Tuesday, fanning the flames of a scandal over another large contract. Unlike that … Read More

The state’s umbrella health and social services agency has fumbled yet another contract, allowing huge cost overruns on a telecom contract with Dallas-based AT&T Inc., according to an audit released Tuesday. State Auditor John Keel, who reports to the Legislature, … Read More

Centene Corp., one of the managed care companies participating in Kansas’ Medicaid program, says a former executive filed a lawsuit against the company as part of a $3 million extortion scheme. Jaqueline Leary, who was the vice president of network … Read More

One of the companies running Kansas’ privatized Medicaid program charges a former executive tried to extort $3 million from the business before she filed a wrongful-termination lawsuit. Overland Park resident Jacqueline Leary, who had been vice president of contracting and … Read More

John and David Mkhitarian found a soft spot in Medicare’s defenses against fraud: Inspectors aren’t required to visit medical providers deemed to present a lower risk of fraud and abuse. So the cousins used exchange students to create some 70 … Read More

DALLAS�A physician and a home health agency manager were sentenced this week for their roles in a $3 million Medicare fraud conspiracy, announced U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Salda�a of the Northern District of Texas. Joseph Megwa, M.D., 60, of Arlington, … Read More

Unscrupulous caregivers submit millions of dollars in fraudulent home care bills to the state every year, yet only a fraction are ever prosecuted, and even fewer wind up in jail or paying substantial restitution. Of the 425 home caregivers and … Read More

In recent weeks, media outlets have shone a spotlight on the state’s procurement of technology to fight Medicaid fraud, highlighting the need to improve the system. 21CT, an Austin-based IT company with patented fraud-fighting technology, has become embroiled in questions … Read More

Andy Pasternak, a family doctor in Reno, Nev., has seen more than 100 new Medicaid patients this year after the state expanded the insurance program under the Affordable Care Act. But he won’t be taking any new ones after Dec. … Read More

AUSTIN – One of Rick Perry’s most prominent gubernatorial appointees knew as early as 2012 about the project now at the center of a growing contracting scandal, the appointee disclosed Tuesday, offering the clearest indication yet of how high in … Read More

*Editor’s note: This story has been updated throughout. Texas Health and Human Services Commission chief Kyle Janek said Tuesday he was misled in briefings on a no-bid, $110 million deal handed to an Austin company for unproven software to detect Medicaid … Read More

The CEO of data analytics company 21CT, whose $110 million deal with the state’s massive health agency is now the focus of a criminal investigation, is asking for yet more money from the state. CEO Irene Williams is asking for … Read More