by Terri Langford and Aman Batheja, The Texas Tribune FBI agents have interviewed employees at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission about its problematic contract with Austin firm 21CT, Executive Commissioner Kyle Janek told The Texas Tribune, marking the first … Read More
AUSTIN – After months of downplaying his involvement in a no-bid state contract that collapsed in scandal last December, a former lobbyist for the company that got the deal is changing his story. The lobbyist, James Frinzi, acknowledged in a … Read More
March 17, 2015 — Four clinics of Texas’ Smile Magic chain have agreed to pay $4.5 million to settle Medicaid fraud charges. The whistleblower lawsuit claimed the clinics used paid recruiters to target parents in grocery store parking lots and … Read More
The former lobbyist for Austin tech company 21CT — whose canceled Medicaid anti-fraud contract is shrouded by scandal and criminal investigations — testified last month that he was referred to work for the company by Jack Stick, the disgraced former … Read More
by Terri Langford On a rainy day in February three years ago, about 30 men and women recently hired by the state filed into a dull government classroom to begin a week of training for their new positions. Texas funnels a … Read More
AUSTIN — The office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has ruled that the state does not have to release public records related to a scandal over a $110 million no-bid Medicaid fraud detection contract because doing so would interfere … Read More
With the press pounding out incredible stories about Jack Stick’s tenure at the Health and Human Services Commission and its Office of Inspector General, would it be surprising to learn that Stick, before he came to HHSC, had possibly earned … Read More
Earlier this month, the Texas Tribune’s Terri Langford had a great story about a couple of $2,800 chairs that former Health and Human Services Commission lawyer Jack Stick ordered for himself and Doug Wilson, his old boss at the Office … 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
Gone are the sales quota-like performance standards imposed by Jack Stick, the embattled former general counsel of Texas’ Health and Human Services Commission. And the agency is still debating what to do with the $2,800 black leather executive chair he … Read More
Former Health and Human Services Commission chief counsel Jack Stick’s name was again prominent in the Houston Chronicle yesterday. Former employees coming forward Former employees of HHSC and the HHSC-Office of Inspector General where Stick worked earlier as deputy inspector general … Read More
AUSTIN – Leah Rayne just wants her job back.The former welfare recipient, who spent 20 years rising through the ranks at Texas’s health agency, found herself thrust into the news last summer after being fired for allegedly leaking confidential information … Read More
Over the past decade, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission has bungled several major contracts that totaled nearly $2 billion, and despite public blowups and calls for reform, problems persist in part because of a lack of accountability in … Read More
An executive office chair wasn’t good enough for Jack Stick at the HHSC Office of Inspector General. He and Doug Wilson, those now-dethroned towering pillars of routing out Medicaid fraud, waste and abuse, had to have better, much better. Stick needed custom … Read More
Attorneys for Austin tech firm 21CT, at the center of a no-bid state contract scandal, will depose the company’s former lobbyist about comments he made to the American-Statesman, which fueled concerns that 21CT had been inappropriately awarded a multimillion dollar-Medicaid … Read More
First the breakup, then the requisite division of property. Among the official belongings of Jack Stick, former general counsel for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, is one black leather executive chair — high-backed with a five-star wood capped … Read More
AUSTIN — Lawyers for the company at the center of Texas’s no-bid contract scandal will get the chance to question a lobbyist who they say caused the deal to unravel, following a Tuesday court ruling. Travis County District Judge Orlinda … Read More
How Texas outsourced crucial state services for two decades — and got smoked. This is part of an occasional series. Editor’s note: This story has been updated with comment from James Frinzi, former lobbyist for 21CT. The Texas Health and … Read More
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission, buffeted in recent months for its bungling of major contracts, purchases more technology products and services than any other state agency, with about $632 million in purchases since fiscal 2010. Combine that agency’s … Read More
As state and federal investigators continue to look into Austin tech firm 21CT’s no-bid contract with the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, company executives in recent weeks have waged an aggressive public relations campaign, claiming the project was competitively … Read More
AUSTIN – Gov. Greg Abbott said Wednesday that the need for more oversight and transparency in state contracting is so great that it cannot wait for official action from lawmakers. In a letter to all state agency heads, Abbott ordered … Read More
Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday ordered state agency heads to enact stringent reforms to contracting practices by Sunday instead of waiting for new laws to pass the Legislature, one of his first acts as governor that frames his administration as … Read More
Weeks after calling for stronger rules to curb conflicts of interest in the wake of a no-bid contracting scandal at Texas’ massive health agency, state Sen. Jane Nelson filed a bill on Monday that would do just that. Nelson, a … Read More
Following a controversial no-bid deal at the Health and Human Services Commission, Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, filed a bill on Monday that seeks to strengthen oversight of state contracting. Nelson’s legislation — Senate Bill 353 — would require an authority figure … Read More
Let’s forget for a moment about all the issues that divide us as Texans, from guns to abortion to Confederate flags on license plates. Let’s focus on something that nearly all of us can agree to hate – bad spending. … Read More
The following is republished from the Texas Tribune: When Jack Stick became the deputy inspector general of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission in 2012, he saw an opportunity to help investigators beef up their production in bringing potential fraud … Read More
HOUSTON — The leader of the company at the center of Texas’s contracting scandal on Friday defended her firm and explained its recent controversial political donations but declined to provide specifics about the value it gave the state. CEO Irene … Read More
While a mushrooming scandal complete with state and federal investigations prompted two Texas state agencies to cancel contracts with Austin technology outfit 21CT last month, the state of Texas has not completely cut ties with the company. The Texas secretary … Read More
At the same time that Texas lawmakers are calling for more transparency at the state’s sprawling Health and Human Services Commission, officials there effectively have blocked the flow of public records that could provide answers to questions surrounding an unfolding … Read More
AUSTIN – Months before 21CT landed what is now the most controversial contract in Texas, it had to get approved to be eligible for no-bid state projects, and its effort did not start particularly well. Hindered by a lack of … Read More
The former lobbyist for the Austin tech company whose Medicaid anti-fraud contract is now the subject of criminal investigations is firing back at his former employer, accusing 21CT of trying to intimidate him into silence after he talked to the … Read More
AUSTIN – The widening fallout from a no-bid contract scandal claimed the job of a fourth top state official Friday when Health and Human Services Commission deputy chief of staff Casey Haney said he, too, would resign. Haney, a trusted … Read More
In the latest in a string of high-profile resignations at the Health and Human Services Commission, Casey Haney — who received $97,000 in college tuition against agency policy — quit Friday. Haney, who was deputy chief of staff for Executive … Read More
The assistant to Texas Health and Human Services Commission chief Kyle Janek who received a pre-paid MBA at taxpayer’s expense resigned on Friday. “It is clear that my continued employment is a distraction from the work of you and the 54,000 … Read More
Amid calls for Texas Health and Human Services Executive Commissioner Kyle Janek to resign over a contracting scandal, sources close to Gov.-elect Greg Abbott said Thursday Abbott won’t make a decision about Janek’s future until after the completion of state … Read More
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One month after she was put on paid administrative leave, Erica Stick has resigned as chief of staff at the Health and Human Services Commission. In December, Stick — the wife of embattled former commission chief counsel Jack Stick — … 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 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
