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
This past week HHSC released a report on executive compensation within HHSC. (Staff Compensation) Per the report, the average base salary for non-executive staff on August 31, 2014 was $37,326. The following table is excerpted from the report to show only … Read More
This past Friday, TDMR sent its comments about the recent Sunset Commission staff report on the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to the Texas Sunset Commission. The following is what was sent from TDMR president Gregory Ewing. A downloadable … Read More
This summer, state regulators settled a Medicaid fraud case against an Austin dentist for literally pennies on the dollar. Although the Texas Health and Human Services Commission’s Office of Inspector General had initially accused Rachel Trueblood of bilking the government … Read More
The Houston Chronicle has reported that as a result of the Sunset Commission’s scathing report on the Health and Human Services Commission Office of Inspector General, HHSC Executive Commissioner Kyle Janek is appointing a special assistant to review OIG procedures … Read More
AUSTIN – The top health official in Texas has decided to appoint a special assistant to review the state’s Medicaid anti-fraud program after an audit found it is so poorly run that it may be better for taxpayers if it … Read More
The government agency charged with rooting out medical fraud and waste is poorly managed, occasionally is unfair to those it investigates and has failed to do an effective job identifying and recovering money lost to medical fraud, according to a … Read More
by Becca Aaronson, The Texas Tribune In a blistering 225-page report on the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission recommended that the state’s health and human services system undergo a massive overhaul. The Sunset Commission, which reviews the … Read More
The government agency charged with rooting out medical fraud and waste is poorly managed, occasionally is unfair to those it investigates and has failed to do an effective job identifying and recovering money lost to medical fraud, according to a … Read More
After two years, the Chief Counsel of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission and former director for enforcement of the Office of Inspector General Jack Stick had a day in court on his DWI on Thursday. Judge to rule on … Read More
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission claimed $746,000 in unallowable supplemental payments made to the University of North Texas for the period May 1, 2004, through September 30, 2007. via Review of Physician Supplemental Payments Made to the University … Read More
The Houston Chronicle (story behind a paywall) reported this morning that Leah Rayne, HHSC’s business technology architect, was fired because she “admitted to officials that she leaked details about an internal strategy meeting to Truven Health Analytics…[the] company that was in final negotiations for … Read More
AUSTIN – Call it the billion-dollar blame game. Six years after auditors discovered signs that some Texas orthodontists were putting unneeded braces on teeth of the state’s poorest children, an army of lawyers are battling over who is liable for … Read More
AUSTIN — The Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) plans to re-issue a request for proposals (RFP) for a major data project this fall. The original procurement was canceled so the state could make revisions to help lower the … Read More
The Houston Chronicle reported yesterday and today that the Texas Health and Human Services Commission ended a tentative contract with Truven Health Analytics of Ann Arbor, Mich., because of potential insider influence for the company. The contract was for a major “enterprise data … Read More
AUSTIN – Texas health officials abruptly have pulled the plug on a major data project amid concerns about its cost and suggestions the tentative contract winner was receiving inside information from state negotiators. The decision to end negotiations with Truven … Read More
The following excerpt is from the Houston Chronicle about Xerox and the State coming to an agreement on the disputed files. AUSTIN – Lawyers for the Xerox Corp. agreed Thursday to temporarily turn over private health information about millions of … Read More
August 29, 2014 — In the latest development in the ongoing Texas Medicaid scandal, the state Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) has filed a second lawsuit against Xerox, claiming the company is refusing to turn over patient records. Without … Read More
Xerox, a company that worked on the Texas Medicaid program, may still have files that contain information about many current and former Medicaid clients. The company is being sued by the state and has refused to return the files. One … Read More
Fraud in Medicaid constitutes a scam amounting to more than a billion dollars and a newly installed computer system is assisting to ferret out the criminals. As per Kaiser, about $28 billion is paid by Texas to provide care for … Read More
On August 14th, the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services heard testimony regarding Medicaid fraud, waste and abuse. The full presentation given by Chris Traylor, Chief Deputy Commissioner, Douglas Wilson, Inspector General, Kay Ghahremani, Texas Medicaid/CHIP Director, and Joseph … Read More
The allegations state health regulators leveled against Rachel Trueblood two years ago were dramatic: The Austin dentist had billed the government for millions of dollars in unnecessary procedures and office time, they said. Regulators froze $100,000 of outstanding Medicaid payments … Read More
A quick search of the Travis Country Criminal Court docket shows that Jack Stick’s DWI was not dispensed with yesterday. Stick, the new Chief Counsel for the Texas Health and Human Rights Commission, has a new hearing set for October 2nd. His … Read More
To understand waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer dollars in the Medicaid system, let’s begin with a couple of basics on what the role of Medicaid is in health care and how it works. Medicaid Basics Medicaid is a program … Read More
August 26, 2014 — Texas health officials have accepted a $39,211 settlement from an Austin dental practice that had been charged with improperly billing more than $16 million in orthodontic Medicaid claims. Glenn Wood, MD, who owns Carousel Pediatrics, disputed … Read More
Texas Medicaid officials, already in a legal battle with Xerox Corp. over the company’s alleged failure to prevent widespread dental fraud, filed another lawsuit Tuesday accusing Xerox of improperly taking large quantities of medical records and not protecting patients’ confidentiality. … Read More
Texas Health and Human Services Commission Inspector General Doug Wilson told Sen. Judith Zaffirini and other members of the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services at their August 14th hearing on Medicaid fraud, waste and abuse that his agency … Read More
Gov. Rick Perry today made the following statement regarding the decision by the Travis County Grand Jury: “As governor, I took an oath to faithfully uphold the constitution of Texas, a pledge that I have kept every day as I’ve … Read More
AUSTIN — Texas state government ultimately is to blame for hundreds of millions of dollars of Medicaid spending wasted on braces and orthodontic work that were not medically necessary, according to federal auditors. The audit report, released last week, concludes … Read More
A federal audit has found a Texas state agency to blame in an ongoing fight with Xerox Corp. over who is responsible for hundreds of millions of Medicaid dollars potentially misspent on unnecessary dental and orthodontic procedures. The Austin American … Read More
Three Medicaid dentists who are involved in HHSC-OIG cases will be testifying tomorrow before the Texas Senate Committee on Health and Human Services. Dr. Chad Evans of Smile Magic from Dallas, Dr. Vivian Teegardin of Harlingen Family Dentistry and Dr. … Read More
Texas is “ultimately responsible” for millions of misspent Medicaid dollars, according to a new federal audit, because a state agency failed to properly oversee the contractor that reviewed the medical necessity of Medicaid claims. For nearly five years, the Texas … Read More
August 11, 2014 — In the latest development in the ongoing Texas Medicaid scandal, a federal report has laid the responsibility for hundreds of millions of dollars spent on dental and orthodontic procedures that may have been medically unnecessary squarely … Read More
A federal auditor has laid responsibility for hundreds of millions of dollars spent on dental and orthodontic procedures that may have been medically unnecessary squarely on the state agency that oversaw the program. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission … Read More
Last Wednesday, the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General released the results of its long anticipated audit of Texas Medicaid orthodontic spending. The feds conducted the audit because Texas Medicaid payments for orthodontic services rose from … Read More
At the end of July, Xerox, Texas Medicaid’s disgraced former claims administrator, filed for a protective order with the Travis County District Court. The stated reason for the order is because the Office of the Attorney General has apparently demanded … Read More
Letters to both Rep. Richard Peña Raymond and Rep. Lois Kolkhorst, chairmen of the House Human Services and Public Health Committees respectively, have been sent from TDMR President Greg Ewing requesting a public hearing on SB1803 and HHSC’s compliance to … Read More
As part of the lawsuit against Xerox, the former lead contractor for the Texas Medicaid and Healthcare Partnership, the Texas Office of the Attorney General alleges that Xerox, from the beginning of its contract with Texas, wrote misleading documents that … Read More
