The FBI is now investigating the multimillion-dollar, no-bid deal brokered by officials at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, whose chief is facing increasing pressure from lawmakers who want answers. And Gov.-elect Greg Abbott has assembled a special “strike … Read More
Controversial no-bid contracts that resulted in a firing, a resignation, and an apparent criminal investigation into the Texas Health and Human Services Commission have spurred further inquiry from both the governor’s office and the agency’s executive commissioner. Gov.-elect Greg Abbott … Read More
AUSTIN – The director of Texas’ massive state health agency personally pushed lawmakers to approve a $90 million extension of a major contract even after news reports showed the initial deal was awarded without competition and potentially subject to conflicts … Read More
Gov.-elect Greg Abbott announced Wednesday the creation of an independent “strike force” to review the state’s largest health agency, specifically how it awards contracts to private vendors. “In the wake of recent revelations at the Health and Human Services Commission, … Read More
On the eve of the semi-annual campaign finance reporting deadline, Gov.-elect Greg Abbott’s office confirmed he returned a $10,000 campaign contribution from the CEO of the beleaguered company at the center of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission contracting … Read More
The Sunset Commission took its final votes Wednesday on a body of all recommendations, including a 2,300-page rewrite of the health and human services code to align the code to both current practices and recommended changes at its related agencies. … Read More
Gov.-elect Greg Abbott has enlisted two state government veterans to quickly review contracting practices and oversight in Medicaid and social services programs. The incoming GOP chief executive asked former deputy comptroller Billy Hamilton and Agriculture Department financial officer Heather Griffith … Read More
Gov.-elect Greg Abbott will deploy an independent “strike force” to delve into the state’s beleaguered health agency, whose contracting with an Austin tech company is already the subject of a criminal investigation and inquiry by the state auditor. “In the … Read More
Texas Health and Human Services Executive Commissioner Kyle Janek today announced that he’s assembling a team of experts to help strengthen oversight and monitoring of contracts. “The primary way we deliver services across our agencies is through contracts, and it … Read More
Since November, the chief executive of Austin tech company 21CT has repeatedly said she first met Jack Stick in 2011, when she and the former state official began brokering a multimillion-dollar, no-bid deal that is now the subject of a … Read More
AUSTIN – The company that won a massive no-bid state contract now embroiled in scandal has decided to launch an aggressive campaign to defend its reputation and other business deals. Austin technology firm 21CT has hired an all-star cast of … Read More
If Jack Stick could be any animal, he would be a liger. A cross-breed between a lion and a tiger might seem like a whimsical answer to the question posed in the 2011 job interview, just before he was hired … Read More
AUSTIN, TEXAS A top deputy at Texas’ massive state health agency received the job without any competition and then was granted nearly $100,000 to pay for his graduate school tuition, according to state records. Casey Haney, a former aide to … Read More
AUSTIN –Texas state health officials have decided not to release any more records about a controversial no-bid contract until a criminal investigation has been completed, reversing an earlier pledge to produce the public documents. Spokeswoman Stephanie Goodman told reporters this … Read More
A state senator wants the Texas auditor to review how a private firm was selected to operate a state psychiatric hospital in Terrell. The request from state Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, is the second recent call for an audit of the way … Read More
A leading state senator says she will propose tougher safeguards against unethical behavior by those involved in awarding contracts to the private vendors who increasingly deliver medical care and social services to vulnerable Texans. Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, is … Read More
The chair of an influential legislative panel is calling for stronger rules to limit conflicts of interest in state contracting as well as increased oversight of major contracts like the multi-million-dollar no-bid deal awarded to Austin tech company 21CT. State … Read More
A no-bid state contract for $110 million, state officials being shown the door and the agency’s top official insisting he was misled. It all points to a need for more strenuous oversight at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. … Read More
The chief of staff for Jack Stick, the former top Texas health official at the center of a criminal inquiry over his handling of a medicaid fraud contract, saw his salary more than double in three years, to $112,000. Cody … Read More
An Austin tech executive gave political contributions to Republican House Speaker Joe Straus and other lawmakers days before her company sought approval of a $90 million contract that is now the focus of a criminal investigation, a newspaper reported Saturday. … Read More
One of the enduring idiosyncracies of Texas politics is that behavior that would easily raise concerns over corruption in many states is legal, normal, and even encouraged, as when legislators argue that their concurrent business interests give them expertise rather … Read More
Days before a key panel of legislators would be asked last month to rubber-stamp a now-canceled $90 million deal with Austin tech firm 21CT, the company’s chief executive tried to contribute thousands of dollars to the decision-makers. Facing the final … Read More
AUSTIN – The deal was sweet enough to cost Jack Stick his job as the top lawyer at Texas’s sprawling state health agency: a multimillion-dollar contract given without competition to a local company with no experience in the field. Three … Read More
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
While Texas is in drought, the bad news floodgates have opened even wider at HHSC with a further state report about inept and costly contract mismanagment. This time with AT&T. Ballooned from $1 million to $110 million Today, the Dallas Morning News jumped … 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
In recent weeks, media outlets have shone a spotlight on the state’s procurement of technology to fight Medicaid fraud, highlighting the need to improve the system. 21CT, an Austin-based IT company with patented fraud-fighting technology, has become embroiled in questions … Read More
AUSTIN – One of Rick Perry’s most prominent gubernatorial appointees knew as early as 2012 about the project now at the center of a growing contracting scandal, the appointee disclosed Tuesday, offering the clearest indication yet of how high in … 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
here’s a delicious irony in the news that a state contract intended to root out fraud and increase transparency in Texas’ Medicaid program might itself show the need for more transparency and oversight of the contracting process. But it mostly … Read More
AUSTIN – When then-Texas health official Jack Stick suggested earlier this year that a company he had helped land $20 million in no-bid state contracts might get another one through a sister department, he was referring the firm to a … Read More
AUSTIN (AP) — The widening fallout over $110 million in no-bid state contracts awarded to an Austin tech company forced the resignation of a second top state official Friday, this time at the request of Republican Gov. Rick Perry, as criminal … Read More
AUSTIN – The embattled inspector general of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission resigned Friday at the behest of Gov. Rick Perry as formal investigations into a widening controversy over a company that received $110 million in no-bid contracts … Read More
Gov. Rick Perry on Friday fired Doug Wilson, inspector general of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, following the removal of Wilson’s former deputy after questions arose over the selection of a relatively unknown company for a $110 million … Read More
AUSTIN, TEXAS The widening fallout over $110 million in no-bid state contracts awarded to an Austin tech company forced the resignation of a second top state official Friday, this time at the request of Republican Gov. Rick Perry, as criminal … Read More
