A purchasing official for Child Protective Services has resigned after a state investigation concluded she had a conflict interest when her husband took a job with a nonprofit that had multimillion-dollar contracts with the state. Patrick Crimmins, spokesman for the … Read More
A purchasing director of Child Protective Services has been placed on administrative leave as officials launch an investigation into a pending contract involving a nonprofit where the director’s husband works, the American-Statesman has learned.It’s the second time Frianita Wilson has … Read More
The Houston Chronicle reported this morning that Frianita Wilson, the wife of former Health and Human Services Commission Inspector General Doug Wilson and an HHSC executive in her own right, is now back at work at HHSC after being on administrative … Read More
AUSTIN — A Texas state official put on paid leave amid last year’s contracting scandal has been reinstated after 15 months in which she received nearly $150,000 in salary without having to work. The official, Frianita Wilson, a longtime procurement … Read More
We want to close out 2015 with a round-up of the year’s most important stories relating to TDMR issues. It has been an exceptional year for changes at the Health and Human Services Commission. The implosion that occurred at HHSC … Read More
A state worker who came under scrutiny during a high-profile contracting scandal last year has been paid more than $100,000 over the past 11 months without having to work a single day. Frianita Wilson — who earns $115,000 a year … Read More
The story about Dr. Rachel Trueblood settling in October 2014 with the Health and Human Services Commission Office of Inspector General for $39,000 after the agency was demanding $16 million in Medicaid overpayments is well-known. However, the story of another … Read More
TDMR has learned that the new Health and Human Services Commission Inspector General Stuart Bowen, Jr. has been taking on and overhauling the agency’s use of statistical sampling and extrapolation. This is the most controversial tool that the agency had … 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
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
Today, Sen. John Whitmire sent a letter to HHSC Executive Commissioner Kyle Janek suggesting he resign immediately for “the best interest of the State of Texas.” “Enough is enough” The Austin American Statesman quoted Whitmire as telling them, “Enough is enough. I … 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
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 – 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
AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry said Friday that his pick for inspector general of the Texas health mega-agency will resign later this month amid mounting questions about how the agency gave $110 million in state contracts to a local company … Read More
Health and Human Services Commission Inspector General Doug Wilson resigned Friday, scarcely more than an hour after the state auditor announced it would launch an investigation into no-bid contracts brokered under his watch in conjunction with an anti-public corruption at … Read More
On November 12th, the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission held public hearings on the Health and Human Services Commission with staff from both the Commission and HHSC staff testifying. The subject of the hearings was the 184-page report put together by … Read More
A key legislator with oversight of the state’s Health and Human Services Commission has asked that agency’s Office of Inspector General to review all Medicaid fraud cases handled by an actuary who admitted recently to falsifying numbers on at least … 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
The NY Times, in conjunction with the Texas Tribune, has published an article on the recent $3.75 million settlement between Carousel Pediatrics and the Texas Health and Human Services Commission Office of the Inspector General and its affect on the … Read More
by Alexa Ura, The Texas Tribune March 17, 2014 Carousel Pediatrics, which has been the subject of a multiyear investigation in Texas, has settled its Medicaid fraud case with the Health and Human Services Commission’s Office of Inspector General, agreeing to … Read More
Gov. Rick Perry has reappointed Douglas Wilson of Pflugerville as inspector general of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) for a term to expire Feb. 1, 2015. The inspector general works to prevent, detect and investigate fraud, abuse … Read More
Before the Thanksgiving long weekend, TDMR received a copy of the August 2012 audit conducted by the HHSC Office of the Inspector General on the Texas Medicaid and Healthcare Partnership. As far as we know this is the first time … Read More
BROWNSVILLE, Texas –– Texas spent $400 million on speech therapy for children under Medicaid last year, up 30 percent from three years ago. Speech therapists along a 76-mile stretch of Texas Highway 83, from Brownsville to Mission, collect more money … Read More
DOUGLAS WILSON | Texas Health and Human Services Inspector General Adult diapers are delivered to a resident who doesn’t need and didn’t order them. A man says he needs your benefit card and PIN number for your free phone. A … Read More
