September 1 marks latest expansion of Medicaid managed careAn additional 134,000 people who are elderly or have disabilities are now getting their Medicaid services through STAR+PLUS managed care. The switch came September 1 as HHSC continued its expansion of managed … Read More
The Texas House of Representatives Committee on Human Services has announced that it will be holding a public hearing on Wednesday, September 3rd, which will include hearing testimony regarding the effectiveness of SB 1803 and changes that should be made to the … Read More
Gov. Rick Perry of Texas is one of the least thoughtful and most damaging state leaders in America, having done great harm to immigrants, abortion clinics and people without health insurance during his 14 years in office. But bad political … Read More
The following is the testimony presented last week to the Texas Senate Committee on Health and Human Services by Jason Ray of Riggs Aleshire & Ray in Austin. Ray is an attorney for a number of Medicaid dentists who have … Read More
As part of its charge in its hearing last Thursday, the Texas Senate Committee on Health and Human Services looked into the state of the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners. The Executive Director Julie Hildebrand, the Director of Enforcement Lisa … Read More
Texas lawmakers are exploring ways the state could provide more access to health care for 1.9 million uninsured poor people without acquiescing to guidelines set under the Affordable Care Act, sometimes referred to as Obamacare. They’re calling it the “Texas … 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
The Senate Committee on Health and Human Services has sent out public notice that it will be holding a public hearing at the Capitol in Austin on Thursday, August 14th. One of the charges the Committee will look into at … Read More
More than 80,000 additional Texans have enrolled in Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program since the rollout of the Affordable Care Act last fall despite Republican state leaders’ decision not to expand eligibility to poor adults, according to federal … Read More
Today, Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell announced a new innovative collaboration with states to improve care for Medicaid beneficiaries by accelerating efforts in reforming their health care systems to improve health and care while reducing costs. The … Read More
GAO identified a gap in state and federal efforts to ensure Medicaid managed care program integrity. Federal laws require the states and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to ensure the integrity of the Medicaid program, including payments … Read More
Work continues to move the Medicaid claims administration contract from Xerox to Accenture. HHSC is reviewing Accenture’s readiness to take over the contract, which also includes processing claims for the Children with Special Health Care Needs program and vendor drug … Read More
Michael McMillen, former Deputy Chief Counsel, Texas Health and Human Services Commission Office of Inspector General, is suing the HHSC for wrongful dismissal after reporting alleged violations of law within the agency. The nature of the alleged violations are not known. The … Read More
On May 7th, Dr. Kyle Janek, the Executive Commissioner of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, issued his final order in the case of Antoine Dental Center of Houston. Upheld reversal of favorable SOAH ruling on Antoine Dental As expected, … Read More
June 19, 2014 — Colorado adults on Medicaid now have dental coverage, including an annual benefit of up to $1,000 in dental services. Previously, only emergency dental services were covered, according to Oral Health Colorado. The benefit enables adults age … Read More
Texas’ Republican leadership made sure the state didn’t expand its Medicaid program to poor, uninsured adults — an optional provision of the Affordable Care Act. But low-income parents here are increasingly getting covered by the joint state-federal insurer anyway — … Read More
June 6, 2014 — Illinois lawmakers have passed a bill to restore adult dental coverage for Medicaid patients after emergency room costs for dental problems mushroomed when the program was cut. The bill now goes to Gov. Pat Quinn for … Read More
Wednesday, TDMR received a notice that HHSC had put online a report from Deloitte Consulting LLP entitled, “State of Texas Medicaid Payment Reform – Market Assessment and Recommendation Analysis.” The report is dated March 31st, 2014 and is 51 pages … Read More
Of the eight acute-care hospitals in our sample, one hospital always reconciled patient accounts and refunded associated Medicaid overpayments to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (State agency). However, the seven remaining hospitals in our sample did not always … Read More
Deloitte Report for Texas As market pressures continue to mount, states are not only looking to derive more value from their managed care programs but also seeking to use these programs to address CMS’ Triple Aim: better health, better quality, … Read More
HHSC yesterday sent out a notice that a new draft HHSC strategic plan has been issued to cover 2015 to 2019. They have invited public comment. Naturally, the report is 348 pages long and their first public hearing on the report … Read More
Texas has received federal approval to test an innovative idea that combines health services for people with both Medicaid and Medicare coverage into one plan, making it easier to get care and potentially saving money for the state and federal … Read More
May 27, 2014 — In the latest flurry of lawsuits in the Texas Medicaid scandal, eight dentists have filed suits claiming the state and attorney general (AG) “protected” Xerox because they feared a federal clawback for hundreds of millions of … Read More
May 20, 2014 — This year more than 181 million Americans won’t visit a dentist, nearly half of people older than 30 suffer from some form of periodontal disease, and about 1 in 4 children younger than age 5 already … Read More
TDMR filed an open record request a while ago to obtain the Texas dental Medicaid spending figures for the years from 2000 to 2005 and 2012, 2013. Texas Medicaid orthodontic spending from 2006 to 2011 has been heavily reported so we … Read More
Several suits by Medicaid providers filed today in Travis County’s 53rd Civil District Court seek to intervene in the recent lawsuit brought by the state of Texas against former state Medicaid claims contractor, ACS/Xerox (henceforth “Xerox”). Recover damages from both … Read More
Last year, state regulators accused Dallas-area dentist Everett Evans of bilking Medicaid out of millions of dollars by performing unnecessary procedures and billing for work he didn’t do. They froze more than $800,000 in pending payments to him from the … Read More
REPUBLISHED FROM THE TEXAS TRIBUNE BY BECCA AARONSON Editor’s Note: This story has been updated throughout to reflect the state’s decision to cancel its contract with the Texas Medicaid and Healthcare Partnership, and the company’s response to the state’s actions. As the … Read More
AUSTIN – The Texas Attorney General’s Office today filed a civil lawsuit in state district court against Xerox Corporation and its wholly owned subsidiary, ACS Healthcare LLC. The State’s legal action seeks to recover fraudulent Medicaid payments for orthodontic and … Read More
Date: May 9, 2014 Contact: Stephanie Goodman, 512-424-6951 The Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) today notified Xerox Corp. that the state is terminating the company’s Medicaid claims administration contract for cause after Xerox staff approved thousands of requests for braces … Read More
Back in mid-April, TDMR sent to our dental Medicaid provider mailing list a simple one question survey – What is your biggest practice challenge? We received over 90 responses and results are now tabulated. The survey shows that Medicaid dentists are now most … Read More
ay 6, 2014 — Washington state is the leading provider of preventive dental care to children, with more than 54% of Medicaid-eligible preschoolers and younger children getting oral care, according to the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Some … Read More
by Becca Aaronson, The Texas Tribune May 2, 2014 Part two of two. For nearly five years, a state contractor allowed workers with limited expertise to approve dental claims for Texas’ Medicaid program, the joint state-federal insurer. State spending on … Read More
by Becca Aaronson, The Texas Tribune May 1, 2014 Part one of two. In 2010 and 2011, Antoine Dental was among Texas’ top-billing Medicaid providers for orthodontic services, collecting more than $1 million annually for putting braces on poor children. … Read More
A $48 million budget proposal from the Missouri House of Representatives would cover adult dental care for 300,000 Medicaid recipients. The Senate Appropriations Committee agreed to the additional $48 million in Medicaid spending last week, according to a report by … Read More
The following is an opinion piece written by Jason Ray, attorney for a number dentists who are being prosecuted by HHSC-OIG for their Medicaid orthodontic billings. Mr. Ray is with the firm of Riggs Aleshire & Ray, P.C. I … Read More
The American Association of Orthodontists have updated their definition of “medically necessary” care to include “emotional well-being.” They have done so because they state that recent studies have linked a “patient’s dental appearance and the incidence of bullying.” Will such … Read More
With a high-profile legal settlement with Carousel Pediatrics, a children’s health provider, under its belt, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission’s Office of Inspector General says its ramped-up efforts to rein in Medicaid fraud have started to pay off. … Read More
A recent review of our website content revealed to us that while PDF files containing these photos have always been on the site, perhaps they have not been as prominently displayed as they should be. Medicaid after all is about … Read More
A new security risk assessment (SRA) tool to help guide health care providers in small to medium sized offices conduct risk assessments of their organizations is now available from HHS. The SRA tool is the result of a collaborative effort … Read More
