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
*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
According to a story in the Austin American Statesman today, the leadership of HHSC Executive Commissioner Kyle Janek is being questioned by state Sen. John Whitmire in the upheaval that is shaking HHSC over the now-canceled multi-million dollar contract for … Read More
State health officials circumvented two separate contract oversight boards when they brokered a $110 million no-bid deal with an Austin tech company — a transaction which is now the subject of a criminal investigation and much public scrutiny after two … Read More
While he was brokering a multimillion-dollar state contract for Austin technology company 21CT, then-state health official Jack Stick was promoting 21CT’s software to other states, assisting the company’s growth plans and seemed poised to take an executive position with the … Read More
AUSTIN — Jack Stick has left the building. The high-ranking Texas Health and Human Services Commission official, who submitted his resignation last Friday amid evidence of contracting favoritism, had planned to stay on the job until early next year, but instead … Read More
*Editor’s note: This story has been updated. As questions continue to surround agreements made between the Texas Health and Human Services Commission and a contractor, a legislator is calling for investigators to get involved. State Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, on … Read More
Jack Stick resigned last week as top lawyer for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Nine months before Jack Stick resigned as the top lawyer for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission amid concerns over a $110 million no-bid … Read More
During a March 2012 webinar, a top Texas health official said his office was implementing a revolutionary tool to help Medicaid fraud investigators find bad guys: graph pattern analysis.“Graph pattern analysis is really the next line of defense for this … Read More
It is now official – Jack Stick, HHSC Chief Counsel and former OIG deputy inspector general for enforcement, has resigned from HHSC over published allegations of interference in the HHSC contracting process on two contracts – one for data mining software … Read More
The top lawyer at the Texas state agency overseeing all health and human services has resigned following concerns about a $110 million no-bid contract. Jack Stick, the general counsel at the Health and Human Services Commission, offered his resignation after … Read More
State administrators cannot withhold Medicaid payments from physicians suspected of program violations without evidence of fraud, a Texas appeals court has ruled. Appellate judges also struck down a rule that enabled the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (THHSC) to … Read More
In today’s public hearings, members of the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission passed staff recommendations and supplemental additions made by a special work group, relating to the Health and Human Services Commission Office of the Inspector General. The final report is now online and … Read More
Almost two and a half years after his arrest for DWI, the date for a trial by jury has been set for Jack Stick, HHSC Chief Counsel and former OIG deputy inspector general for enforcement. The trial is now set … Read More
Texas and the federal government tentatively resolved a high-stakes health care funding inquiry on Monday, averting a major disruption to hospital funding. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission and the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reached the … Read More
December 2, 2014 — A Texas appeals court has invalidated several rules related to payment holds imposed during Medicaid fraud investigations, saying they violate due process rights. The Third Court of Appeals invalidated rules that authorized the Texas Office of … Read More
The Statesman reports today that HHSC’s chief counsel Jack Stick, former OIG director for enforcement, who steered business to an Austin software firm for OIG Medicaid fraud detection data mining software, has for years had close connections to the firm’s … Read More
Houston Chronicle business columnist Chris Tomlinson blasted the Texas Health and Human Services Commission Office of Inspector General for its treatment of Medicaid providers in his column Wednesday. His criticism however goes further than OIG and alleges that OIG’s overzealousness … Read More
Judge rightfully reins in anti-fraud unit after abusive action By Chris TomlinsonNovember 26, 2014 Doctors, dentists and other health care providers who care for the state’s most disadvantaged got some much needed relief Tuesday from an over-zealous, politically motivated anti-fraud … Read More
Law360, Dallas (November 25, 2014, 5:55 PM ET) — A Texas appeals court on Tuesday invalidated three Texas Health and Human Services Commission rules related to payment holds imposed during Medicaid fraud investigations, holding they violate due process rights. The … Read More
AUSTIN – Texas officials have been illegally withholding millions of dollars from dozens of dentists and orthodontists based on only the suspicion of minor wrongdoing, an appeals court ruled Tuesday, dealing another blow to the state’s beleaguered unit charged with … Read More
The Texas agency charged with investigating health care fraud suffered a serious setback Tuesday, when a state appeals court ruled that the Health and Human Services Commission’s Office of Inspector General’s expansive use of a key tactic — withholding Medicaid … Read More
Today, the Texas 3rd Court of Appeals overturned a lower court decision and negated Health and Human Services Commission rules that allow for the Office of Inspector General to place Medicaid payment holds in certain circumstances, basically for only program violations … Read More
In a letter to the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission, TDMR President Gregory Ewing has recommended, based on the testimony in the public hearings held last week, that all pending OIG cases be stayed for external review. All pending cases should … Read More
Last Thursday, November 13th, the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission held public hearings about its staff report on the Texas Health and Human Services Commission that was released in October. The Commission heard over nine straight hours of submissions from various … Read More
The state office charged with investigating Medicaid fraud and waste, criticized this week by state auditors and legislators as dysfunctional and “broken,” is finalizing a $90 million contract with an Austin analytics company that had no experience with Medicaid before … Read More
Responding to an audit critical of the state’s network of health agencies, as well as the embattled Medicaid fraud investigative unit, a panel of state lawmakers this week endorsed an overhaul of the state’s umbrella health agency, the Health and … Read More
Texas’ top health official told lawmakers Wednesday that they should combine the state’s five health departments into one “mega-agency.” A single, consolidated health commission would better serve the state’s most vulnerable populations, Health and Human Services Executive Commissioner Kyle Janek told the Sunset Advisory … Read More
This past week, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission published on their website a circular about the process for audits being done by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on Medicaid providers in Texas. All Medicaid providers in … Read More
The Sunset Commission has set out their agenda for the upcoming public hearings on the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to be held on Wednesday and Thursday, November 12 and 13. Meeting materials will be available on the Sunset … Read More
The Texas Rangers are now investigating the Health and Human Services Commission Office of Inspector General and the firing of actuary Brad Nelson per a story in the Houston Chronicle. The Commission requested the investigation after Nelson was fired for … Read More
AUSTIN – The Texas Rangers have opened a criminal investigation into a recently fired state employee whose alleged falsification data could cost the state the chance to recoup millions of dollars from dentists and orthodontists of Medicaid fraud, officials confirmed … Read More
The 3rd Texas Court of Appeals has agreed with a Travis County District Court judge and has issued a ruling that the Office of the Inspector General should return over $1.2 million in withheld Medicaid funds to Harlingen Family Dentistry. TDMR received a … Read More
In another setback for the state health agency charged with rooting out Medicaid fraud, an appeals court Thursday said almost $1.26 million was improperly withheld from a dental practice even after state regulators acknowledged that no fraud had taken place. … Read More
A Texas Health and Human Services Commission employee in the Office of the Inspector General was fired because he apparently “cooked the books” in OIG’s case against Dr. Rachel Trueblood, according to a story published in the Austin American Statesman … Read More
Another HHS-OIG audit about to be released of the Texas Medicaid program will cost Texas another $30 million, according to a story in this morning’s Austin American Statesman. The federal audit covers 2011 for non-emergency medical transportation services. The article reports … Read More
The federal government wants Texas to pay back more than $30 million for incorrectly claimed Medicaid reimbursements. An audit to be released Wednesday by the Office of Inspector General within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services describes how … Read More
