Media

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (News Release)- Attorney General Leslie Rutledge announced Tuesday the arrest of the former Director of Billing at Preferred Family Health. Helen Balding, 47, of New Braunfels, Texas, formerly of Fayetteville, is accused of making false statements knowingly … Read More

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who sued in February, is leading a 20-state coalition along with Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel to fight against the Affordable Care Act (ACA), otherwise known as Obamacare. The trial date has been set for … Read More

A former Preferred Family Healthcare billing director arrested on two felony counts of Medicaid fraud received pay from an Arkansas lobbying firm and a “separate” mental health care provider, according to court documents. Helen Balding, 47, arrested Monday, was described … Read More

TOPEKA – Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt and Gov. Jeff Colyer are touting a federal court ruling handed down Tuesday that says the federal government must repay hundreds of millions of dollars to six states – including $142 million to … Read More

Texas children are being left behind without access to healthcare, partly as a result of action taken by former Gov. Rick Perry to cut the expansion of Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare. According to a … Read More

AUSTIN – Attorney General Ken Paxton today commended a U.S. District Court decision ordering the Internal Revenue Service to repay Texas and five other states more than $839 million because of an unlawful Obamacare tax on state Medicaid programs. Of … Read More

After months of inaction, Florida Department of Transportation officials announced today that they are assessing nearly $800,000 in damages against the SunPass contractor responsible for the state’s tolling chaos. At Gov. Rick Scott’s direction, the department also has requested an … Read More

Legal problems are piling up fast for a Texas family about six hours south of Houston. A McAllen doctor was arrested back in May on suspicions that he is part of a $240 million health care fraud and international money … Read More

AUSTIN (KXAN) — A lawsuit filed within Travis County details allegations against Dr. Clinton Herzog from FLOSS Dental, including that he is not a licensed dentist. Plaintiffs claim Herzog collected hundreds of thousands of dollars from investors to open multiple … Read More

Advocacy groups on Tuesday sued the Trump administration, arguing it acted outside the scope of its authority when it approved work requirements in Arkansas’ Medicaid program. The National Health Law Program, Legal Aid of Arkansas and the Southern Poverty Law … Read More

Texas children are being left behind without access to healthcare, partly a result of action taken by former Gov. Rick Perry to cut the expansion of Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare. According to a new … Read More

A regional hospital system in the Detroit, Michigan area agreed to pay the federal government over $84 million to resolve allegations that the system violated the Anti-Kickback Statute and the physician-self referral law. The federal government accused William Beaumont Hospital … Read More

The former CEO of Merced, Calif.-based Horisons Unlimited, a nonprofit chain of health clinics, pleaded guilty Aug. 13 to healthcare fraud and conspiracy to receive kickbacks, according to the Department of Justice. Sandra Haar, the former CEO, orchestrated a scheme … Read More

Getting your teeth straightened no longer means paying $4,000 or more and schlepping to a million appointments. Like pretty much everything else being disrupted these days, startups with good funding are here to upend the teeth straightening industry. And they’re … Read More

The state of Texas is seeking a nationwide injunction against the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program (DACA), telling a federal judge in a hearing Wednesday that the government should be barred immediately from issuing or renewing more permits … Read More

This year’s Texas Lyceum Poll from the Texas Politics Project asked — as always — about how Texas adults feel about their elected officials and how they plan to vote in the upcoming elections. Source: What Texans Really Think about Health … Read More

SAN ANTONIO, Aug. 9, 2018 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Dr. Edgardo Gonzalez, Lead Dentist at Monarch Dental® in San Antonio, TX recently traveled to Asunción, Paraguay for a week-long international outpost trip to deliver dental care in impoverished communities. Along with a … Read More

New York’s battle with its cashless tolling vendor may soon get some federal attention. More than two months of tolling outages in Florida and problems elsewhere, including New York, led two U.S. senators to ask the Federal Trade Commission for … Read More

AstraZeneca was accused of engaging in false and misleading marketing schemes at a time when the company was under the strict obligations of a 2010 federal “corporate integrity agreement” resulting from prior allegations of Medicaid fraud, a press release states. … Read More

DALLAS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Today, the national law firm of Baron & Budd announced that AstraZeneca has agreed to pay $110 million to settle two whistleblower lawsuits brought by the State of Texas under the Texas Medicaid Fraud Prevention Act (“TMFPA”). The first … Read More

Prime Healthcare Services, Inc., Prime Healthcare Foundation, Inc., and Prime Healthcare Management, Inc. (collectively Prime), and Prime’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Prem Reddy, have agreed to pay the United States $65 million to settle allegations that 14 Prime … Read More

Story from March 14, 2018 The Michigan Court of Appeals on Wednesday tossed a Florida company’s lawsuit challenging a multimillion-dollar children’s Medicaid dental benefits management contract the state awarded Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. Fort Lauderdale-based MCNA Insurance Co. … Read More

Medicaid is now paying Iowa dentists a mere $27 to clean patients’ teeth, according to the executive director of the Iowa Dental Association. That pathetically low reimbursement — likely less than the cost of an oil change or decent lawn … Read More

Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that physician MUSTAK Y. VAID was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Lorna G. Schofield to 18 months in prison for his participation in a … Read More

DALLAS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Today, the national law firm of Baron & Budd announced that Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. (“Endo”) has agreed to pay $13.25 million to settle a whistleblower lawsuit brought by the State of Texas under the Texas Medicaid Fraud Prevention Act … Read More

NEWARK, N.J. – A Somerset, New Jersey, man was sentenced today to 20 months in prison for defrauding the Veterans Affairs program by billing for services he never performed, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced. Apostolos Voudouris, 44, previously pleaded guilty … Read More

RALEIGH – The United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Robert J. Higdon, Jr., announced today that a federal court awarded a nearly $3 million judgment against Compassionate Home Care Services, Inc., Carol Anders, and Ryan Santiago … Read More

Senator Bill Nelson is in Tampa on Monday calling for a federal investigation into the company responsible for “mismanaging the SunPass toll system.” Senator Nelson and Senator Gary Peters (D-MI) sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission Chairman, Joseph … Read More

TOKYO — Fujifilm Holdings is continuing its attempts to acquire Xerox, but the Japanese company has denied it will make any compromise, even if it fails in the bid. The acquisition of the major U.S. office equipment maker is “not … Read More

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) isn’t doing enough to prevent payment risks in Medicaid managed care organizations (MCOs), according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO). According to the report (PDF), CMS hasn’t initiated … Read More

Less than a month after the largest federal health care fraud sting in American history, details of the operation show how massive the problem is. As part of the operation, more than 600 people were charged with committing more than … Read More

A Brownsville-area speech pathologist won’t have to go to prison, but has been ordered to pay almost a half-million dollars in restitution stemming from a scheme to defraud Texas Medicaid. The punishment against 67-year-old Georgia Phillips was handed down Tuesday, … Read More

BROWNSVILLE — Hundreds of medical professionals will converge this week in South Texas to offer free health care services during Operation Lone Star. Now in its 20th year, the annual event coordinated by the Texas Department of State Health Services … Read More

We knew there were serious problems with Texas Health and Human Services Commission handling of billions of dollars in contracts for health care and social services, but new audits show this mess of a system is even worse than we … Read More

The 127 health workers enduring mold and mustiness in a state agency building are getting some relief: They’re moving out next week. Starting Monday, Texas Department of State Health Services employees whose job it is to analyze data on tuberculosis, … Read More

Newly eligible Medicare beneficiaries may face a confusing process as they begin their quests to enroll. Navigating the parts, costs and coverage options can overwhelm even the savviest beneficiaries. Below, we answer seven major questions about Medicare and its coverage. … Read More

AUSTIN — Long lines surrounded the Travis High School gym Friday morning in Austin as people waited to get free dental appointments. A mobile clinic called “Texas Mission of Mercy” opened their doors at 5:30 a.m. Friday. The Texas Dental … Read More

AUSTIN — Texas’ sprawling bureaucracy for regulating health care and providing social services is vulnerable to a “perception of impropriety” because it routinely lets individual contracting personnel open bids on their own, without any witnesses, a new internal audit says. … Read More

A rapidly growing elderly population needs more access to oral health care services, according to a recent report. But progress is being made in some areas to better care for aging teeth. The report A State of Decay, Vol. IV … Read More

Only one word comes to mind looking at photos that Texas Department of State Health Services employees took of gray, green and brown-hued mold dotting their office furniture: Ew. As of July 10, as many as 127 state workers have … Read More