A comprehensive state contracting reform bill unanimously passed the Texas Senate Tuesday and heads the House, where it is likely to sail through and ultimately give Gov. Greg Abbott the chance to approve fixes to a massive state purchasing system … Read More
AUSTIN — The Texas Health and Human Services Commission needs “significant changes” in its leadership or management structure, according to a committee appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott. The panel’s much-anticipated report, released Monday, is the latest blow for a troubled … Read More
A multimillion-dollar software contract for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission was blasted in a report from a “strike force” committee appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott, reports the Texas Tribune. “The report’s findings are deeply troubling,” said Abbott in … Read More
As the Health and Human Services Commission continues to face fierce criticism for contracting problems, one pressing question remains unanswered: Will Executive Commissioner Kyle Janek keep his job? A few legislators have called for his ouster, but most state leaders … Read More
12:11 p.m. update: The multimillion-dollar, no-bid state deals with Austin tech firm 21CT “skirted the limits” of the law and was a “policy fiasco” that illustrates the need for changes in the leadership structure at the Health and Human Services … Read More
Gov. Abbott’s strike force has published its report into contracting problems at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission that exploded into public view from the mess with former HHSC chief counsel and deputy inspector general OIG Jack Stick and Austin … Read More
Governor Greg Abbott issued the following statement regarding the report released today by the strike force he deployed to conduct a review of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission: “When I deployed the strike force, I had confidence they … Read More
Leadership problems at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission in the wake of a contracting scandal that resulted in forced resignations leave the agency too vulnerable to consolidate at this time, according to a report released Monday by Gov. Greg … Read More
The 92-page report of the Health and Human Services Strike Force has some very interesting information and observations on the operations of the Health and Human Services Commission that led it into difficulty of which the 21CT contract was essentially only … Read More
by Terri Langford and Aman Batheja, The Texas Tribune FBI agents have interviewed employees at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission about its problematic contract with Austin firm 21CT, Executive Commissioner Kyle Janek told The Texas Tribune, marking the first … Read More
These two organizations can’t seem but foul up in Texas. Both are again under the gun for their contract performance – Xerox with the Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT) and the Health and Human Services Commission for contract irregularities with … Read More
The news that Smile Magic Dental clinics recently settled with the Texas Health and Human Services Commission Office of Inspector General over allegations of Medicaid fraud confirms what TDMR has been saying for a long time – that the purpose … Read More
A package of bills to overhaul the state’s clunky health and human services system drew more than three hours of testimony before a Senate panel on Monday, the latest airing of concern across varied interest groups who fear losing access … Read More
by Edgar Walters, As the state’s largest health agency reels from a scandal over how it awarded contracts to private vendors, lawmakers on Wednesday said they are slowing down on their ambitious — and controversial — plan to restructure it. A … Read More
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission just released a report last week authored by the Institute for Child Health Policy at the University of Florida. The report evaluates the health care experiences and satisfaction of the caregivers of children … Read More
AUSTIN – The Texas Senate’s top budget writer on Monday proposed sharply limiting the use of the popular and controversial Cooperative Contracts purchasing program, signaling that a promised tightening of restrictions for outsourcing by state agencies may be even more … Read More
(Tribune News Service) — The popular state purchasing program that played a role in a $110 million no-bid contract now engulfed in scandal is likely to be revamped during this year’s legislative session, officials predicted this week. “We’re going to … Read More
AUSTIN – Former Texas Ethics Commission Director David Reisman has joined the Texas Health and Human Services Commission as chief ethics officer. "I created this position to help increase our emphasis on ethical behavior," said HHSC Executive Commissioner Kyle Janek. … Read More
Sen. Joan Huffman added her voice to those Texas politicians calling for the resignation of Health and Human Services Commission Executive Commissioner Kyle Janek yesterday per the Houston Chronicle. Huffman wasn’t satisfied with Janek’s answers nor his demeanor while answering … Read More
AUSTIN – Fighting for his job after weeks of revelations about contracting irregularities and questionable tuition payments, Texas health commissioner Kyle Janek publicly apologized during a Wednesday legislative hearing in which state senators took turns angrily asking why they should … Read More
With the press pounding out incredible stories about Jack Stick’s tenure at the Health and Human Services Commission and its Office of Inspector General, would it be surprising to learn that Stick, before he came to HHSC, had possibly earned … Read More
This past Monday, the House Human Services Committee held a hearing about the current status of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission Office of Inspector General. A lot has happened in the last two months since the devastating hearings before … Read More
Three years ago, when the Texas Health and Human Services Commission wanted software that investigators in its Office of Inspector General could use to track down Medicaid fraud, it asked the federal government to foot most of the $20 million bill. In its … Read More
Former Health and Human Services Commission chief counsel Jack Stick’s name was again prominent in the Houston Chronicle yesterday. Former employees coming forward Former employees of HHSC and the HHSC-Office of Inspector General where Stick worked earlier as deputy inspector general … Read More
AUSTIN – Leah Rayne just wants her job back.The former welfare recipient, who spent 20 years rising through the ranks at Texas’s health agency, found herself thrust into the news last summer after being fired for allegedly leaking confidential information … Read More
Over the past decade, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission has bungled several major contracts that totaled nearly $2 billion, and despite public blowups and calls for reform, problems persist in part because of a lack of accountability in … Read More
AUSTIN – Texas health officials last year used the firing of the state’s contractor for processing Medicaid claims to justify giving a no-bid “emergency” deal for more money to a company whose lobbying team included several former appointees of then-Gov. … Read More
AUSTIN – Texas health officials last year used the firing of the state’s contractor for processing Medicaid claims to justify giving a no-bid “emergency” deal for more money to a company whose lobbying team included several former appointees of then-Gov. … Read More
HHSC has just issued this report. We haven’t looked at it. .
by Edgar Walters, The Texas Tribune Amid scrutiny of how the state’s largest health agency has awarded contracts to private vendors, state lawmakers said Wednesday they had “lost confidence” in the office of the agency that investigates fraud. At the Senate … Read More
An executive office chair wasn’t good enough for Jack Stick at the HHSC Office of Inspector General. He and Doug Wilson, those now-dethroned towering pillars of routing out Medicaid fraud, waste and abuse, had to have better, much better. Stick needed custom … Read More
AUSTIN — Lawyers for the company at the center of Texas’s no-bid contract scandal will get the chance to question a lobbyist who they say caused the deal to unravel, following a Tuesday court ruling. Travis County District Judge Orlinda … Read More
Lawyers for a number of Medicaid dentists have filed their response to a revised suit filed by the state in the wake of the Sunset Advisory Commission hearings last December. Nonsuited administrative cases a victory for due process rights Prior to Christmas, … Read More
How Texas outsourced crucial state services for two decades — and got smoked. This is part of an occasional series. Editor’s note: This story has been updated with comment from James Frinzi, former lobbyist for 21CT. The Texas Health and … Read More
AUSTIN – For years, Texas state officials have boasted about a unique program they say enables the purchase of technology products at competitive prices without a costly and lengthy bidding process. But a Houston Chronicle investigation has found that the … Read More
In State Contracting, Failure Is an Option by Aman Batheja, The Texas Tribune February 1, 2015 How Texas outsourced crucial state services for two decades — and got smoked. In 1991, the Texas attorney general’s office signed an $11 million contract to … Read More
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission, buffeted in recent months for its bungling of major contracts, purchases more technology products and services than any other state agency, with about $632 million in purchases since fiscal 2010. Combine that agency’s … Read More
As state and federal investigators continue to look into Austin tech firm 21CT’s no-bid contract with the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, company executives in recent weeks have waged an aggressive public relations campaign, claiming the project was competitively … Read More
When a relatively small high-tech company lands a $20 million contract with a large state agency without having to compete for it, even though the company has no direct experience with the matter at hand, eyebrows raise and foreheads furrow, … Read More
AUSTIN – Gov. Greg Abbott said Wednesday that the need for more oversight and transparency in state contracting is so great that it cannot wait for official action from lawmakers. In a letter to all state agency heads, Abbott ordered … Read More
