6) Bad Deals – Another session, another agency in scandal, another chief forced out. This time it was Health and Human Services Commissioner (and former state senator) Kyle Janek, plus his chief counsel (and former Travis County state rep) Jack … 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 district court judge on Wednesday handed state Medicaid regulators another decisive courtroom loss, adding one more notch to the Health and Human Service Commission’s Office of Inspector General’s unenviable losing streak pursuing dentists and orthodontists it claims have bilked … Read More
Months after he was put on paid administrative leave amid an investigation into the Texas Health and Human Services Commission’s contracting procedures, Cody Cazares, the former chief of staff to the commission’s top lawyer, has left the agency. Cazares, the former chief … Read More
Last Wednesday, July 16, lawyers for Antoine Dental Centers of Houston again went to court. Going Travis County District Court This time they appeared before Travis County District Court to appeal the Medicaid payment hold final decision by former Health … Read More
Here is the June/July edition of the Texas Medicaid News! Hello and welcome to the Texas Medicaid news update, I’m Andy Zajac. Things have been hot and heavy over the last few weeks in Austin. 1) Our top story is … Read More
Update, 1:10 p.m. Recent scandals and newspaper headlines were not the reason that Kyle Janek stepped down from the agency, Janek told reporters a few minutes ago.Gov. Greg Abbott did not pressure Janek to resign, he added, and Janek initiated … Read More
AUSTIN – Nearly six months after a scandal over a $110 million no-bid contract rocked the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, Gov. Greg Abbott said Friday that executive commissioner Kyle Janek would resign July 1.Former second-in-command Chris Traylor will … Read More
Governor Greg Abbott today announced that Texas Health and Human Services Commission Executive Commissioner Dr. Kyle Janek has expressed his intention to resign, effective July 1, 2015. Governor Abbott simultaneously announced his intention to appoint Chris Traylor as Executive Commissioner … Read More
Texas Health and Human Services Executive Commissioner Kyle Janek, M.D., announced today he is stepping down from his position effective July 1 to make way for new leadership as the agency prepares for major reorganization. “I’ve been honored to lead … Read More
The Texas Tribune just reported the following this morning: Kyle Janek, the head of the state’s embattled Health and Human Services Commission, will step down and be replaced by his former deputy, sources with direct knowledge of the move said Friday. … Read More
AUSTIN – A sophisticated software program crunched through a sea of Texas hospital records in July 2013, instantaneously comparing payment records against Medicaid rules to identify $4.4 million in questionable spending and start a process that eventually returned the money … Read More
Yesterday both the Austin American Statesman and Texas Tribune published new scathing exposes on contract handling at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Close personal relations with lobbyist of successful contractor This time however the stories did not involve … Read More
Three years ago, a company called Geo Care Inc. failed to win a contract from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to privatize the Kerrville State Hospital, one of the state’s 10 psychiatric facilities. So the company’s lobbyist, Frank … Read More
In August 2013, a lobbyist for a national company that privatizes state prisons emailed a bold proposal to Kyle Janek, the top official over a Texas health agency that at the time was facing scrutiny for a spate of gruesome … Read More
If there is a silver lining to the no-bid contracting scandal at the state’s health commission, it is the response to prevent future similar debacles. In light of Gov. Greg Abbott’s independent “strike force” review of the Texas Health and … Read More
by Edgar Walters, The Texas Tribune It’s been a tough year so far for Kyle Janek, the head of the state’s embattled Health and Human Services Commission — and it’s only April. Two separate government-issued reports have criticized Janek’s leadership. … Read More
As criminal investigators and legislators continue to scrutinize millions of dollars in no-bid technology deals, the state’s top health agency is now dealing with collateral damage from the fiasco: the collapse of a database project that has been in the … Read More
By Editorial Board The critical report released Monday by a “strike force” deployed by Gov. Greg Abbott to investigate the health agency’s $110 million no-bid contract with 21CT, an Austin technology company, makes our conclusion unavoidable. While the report did … Read More
A state contracting scandal that dealt Republican Gov. Greg Abbott the first crisis of his administration escalated Monday with a scathing state report about Texas’ health commissioner, who responded by giving no indication he would resign. An outside investigation ordered … Read More
A comprehensive state contracting reform bill unanimously passed the Texas Senate Tuesday and heads the House, where it is likely to sail through and ultimately give Gov. Greg Abbott the chance to approve fixes to a massive state purchasing system … Read More
A multimillion-dollar software contract for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission was blasted in a report from a “strike force” committee appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott, reports the Texas Tribune. “The report’s findings are deeply troubling,” said Abbott in … Read More
As the Health and Human Services Commission continues to face fierce criticism for contracting problems, one pressing question remains unanswered: Will Executive Commissioner Kyle Janek keep his job? A few legislators have called for his ouster, but most state leaders … Read More
Gov. Abbott’s strike force has published its report into contracting problems at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission that exploded into public view from the mess with former HHSC chief counsel and deputy inspector general OIG Jack Stick and Austin … Read More
Leadership problems at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission in the wake of a contracting scandal that resulted in forced resignations leave the agency too vulnerable to consolidate at this time, according to a report released Monday by Gov. Greg … Read More
The 92-page report of the Health and Human Services Strike Force has some very interesting information and observations on the operations of the Health and Human Services Commission that led it into difficulty of which the 21CT contract was essentially only … Read More
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 – Fighting for his job after weeks of revelations about contracting irregularities and questionable tuition payments, Texas health commissioner Kyle Janek publicly apologized during a Wednesday legislative hearing in which state senators took turns angrily asking why they should … 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
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
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
When a relatively small high-tech company lands a $20 million contract with a large state agency without having to compete for it, even though the company has no direct experience with the matter at hand, eyebrows raise and foreheads furrow, … 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
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
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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