TDMR has obtained a copy of a January 4 letter from State Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa to Charles Smith, the Executive Commissioner of Texas Health and Human Services asking Smith to review MCO “credible allegations of fraud” payment holds. While … Read More
The Sunset Advisory Commission has made public its decisions regarding its sunset review of the State Board of Dental Examiners based on its staff report and hearings held. These have been available since August on the Commission website and … Read More
Those that want to make their views known about the current state of the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners can testify in Austin next week before the Sunset Advisory Commission. The staff report from the Commission is highly critical … Read More
The Sunset Advisory Commission today released its staff report on their observations and recommendations relating to the State Board of Dental Examiners. Basically, they found it had too many board members who did too little and got mired in business- … Read More
Senate Bill 207 which details legislative reforms to be made to the structure and function of the Health and Human Services Commission Office of Inspector General as recommended by the Sunset Advisory Commission has cleared the Texas Senate and is set … Read More
Yesterday, the Texas Senate passed and sent down to the House of Representatives Senate Bill 207, the bill setting out much needed reforms to the Health and Human Services Commission Office of Inspector General that came out of the Sunset … Read More
Health care providers who say they’ve been unfairly targeted by Texas Medicaid fraud investigators tallied a win Tuesday when the Senate passed a bill to crack down on that office and give doctors room to push back against bogus fraud … Read More
The Senate passed a bill Tuesday that seeks to revamp the state agency that investigates fraud, waste and abuse in Medicaid and other state health services. The Office of Inspector General at the Health and Human Services Commission is supposed … Read More
AUSTIN — A new bill to curb alleged abuses of an organization that is itself supposed to police abuses got Texas Senate approval Tuesday. Senators voted 30-0 to pass Senate Bill 207 by state Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, D-McAllen, which … Read More
by Edgar Walters, As the state’s largest health agency reels from a scandal over how it awarded contracts to private vendors, lawmakers on Wednesday said they are slowing down on their ambitious — and controversial — plan to restructure it. A … 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 said Thursday he wants to replace the Texas Sunset Commission with a citizen-led panel on government waste. Speaking at the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s annual Policy Orientation conference, Abbott said the Sunset system “seldom eliminates unnecessary agencies.” … 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
AUSTIN — Texas is looking to reform the state office that goes after fraud in health care and human services: the Office of Inspector General. The Sunset Advisory Commission, which targets government waste within state agencies, recommended changes to the … Read More
In today’s public hearings, members of the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission passed staff recommendations and supplemental additions made by a special work group, relating to the Health and Human Services Commission Office of the Inspector General. The final report is now online and … 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
In a letter to the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission, TDMR President Gregory Ewing has recommended, based on the testimony in the public hearings held last week, that all pending OIG cases be stayed for external review. All pending cases should … Read More
Last Thursday, November 13th, the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission held public hearings about its staff report on the Texas Health and Human Services Commission that was released in October. The Commission heard over nine straight hours of submissions from various … Read More
The Texas Sunset Commission held public hearing both Wednesday and Thursday this week on the Health and Human Services Commission as well as its beleaguered Office of Inspector General. Sunset and HHSC staff testified on Wednesday about the recent Sunset Commission … Read More
Responding to an audit critical of the state’s network of health agencies, as well as the embattled Medicaid fraud investigative unit, a panel of state lawmakers this week endorsed an overhaul of the state’s umbrella health agency, the Health and … Read More
Texas’ top health official told lawmakers Wednesday that they should combine the state’s five health departments into one “mega-agency.” A single, consolidated health commission would better serve the state’s most vulnerable populations, Health and Human Services Executive Commissioner Kyle Janek told the Sunset Advisory … Read More
AUSTIN – Texas officials voiced support Wednesday for a proposal to combine five big state health and human services agencies into a mega-agency so massive that it would have a bigger budget than many states. The agencies made their support … Read More
The latest edition of the Texas Health and Human Service Commission’s online newsletter InTouch says that OIG is bringing in an outside firm to review its investigative, sampling and extrapolation processes in light of the recent scathing Sunset Commission staff report on … Read More
The Sunset Commission has set out their agenda for the upcoming public hearings on the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to be held on Wednesday and Thursday, November 12 and 13. Meeting materials will be available on the Sunset … Read More
TDMR received a notice from the Texas Sunset Commission on Tuesday requesting feedback on the staff report just issued on HHSC which was particularly scathing of the Office of Inspector General. Make your voice heard Any Texan can comment on … Read More
The Health and Human Services Commission has put online its self-report to the Sunset Commission as HHSC is coming up for review by the Commission this coming year. The link below will take you to the HHSC website where you … Read More
