$5.5 Million In Unallowable Medicaid Payments Made To Dead People In Texas

freebeacon
Ali Meyer
December 6, 2017 5:00 am

$1.77 million in payments has not been identified or recovered

The Texas Health and Human Services Commission paid managed-care organizations $5,521,704 in Medicaid capitation payments after beneficiaries died, according to an audit from the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.

According to the report, a capitation payment is one that the state makes to a contractor for each beneficiary's medical services enrolled under the state plan. This payment is made regardless of whether or not the beneficiary receives services in that period.

"The State agency performs monthly reviews of capitation payments and beneficiary eligibility to identify and recover unallowable payments made after a beneficiary's death," the report explains. "We compared the dates of death noted in the Texas Medicaid eligibility system or the State Bureau of Vital Statistics records to [Social Security Administration]'s dates of death to confirm whether SSA's dates of death were correct."

While auditors found that the Texas Health and Human Services Commission made efforts to identify and recover unallowable payments, they still made roughly $5.5 million capitation payments after beneficiaries had died. The state was able to recover about $3.75 million of those payments, but roughly $1.77 million in payments had not been identified or recovered.

"We determined that 107 of the 174 deceased beneficiaries, or 61 percent, had payments made over one year after their dates of death," auditors said.

The report said the Texas Commission did not have safeguards in place to make sure that unallowable payments were not made. For example, 116 of 174 deceased beneficiaries, or 66 percent, did not have a date of death recorded in the system.

Auditors recommended that the state agency try to recover the $1.77 million in unallowable payments, strengthen its safeguards for identifying beneficiaries who have died, and end their eligibility so future payments won't be made. The state agency agreed with the recommendations and said it would ensure capitation payments were stopped. It would also conduct a thorough review of recording death information.

Thank You Ms Meyer and Free Beacon.

Texas AG Ken Paxton Sues Austin, Other Cities In Sanctuary Crackdown

weaselzippers



Get it on!

Via Fox News:

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton already has filed suit against local jurisdictions that had been accused of not cooperating with federal immigration agents, in a preemptive bid to uphold a newly signed anti-sanctuary city law and head off numerous legal challenges.

Paxton filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, as Gov. Greg Abbott on Sunday signed the crackdown which bars sanctuary policies and gives local law enforcement officers the right to ask the immigration status of anyone they stop. Under the law, local officers who won’t cooperate with federal immigration agents could face jail time and fines up to $25,000 per day.

Keep reading…

Thank You Texas, Fox, and Nick.

Parents Catch Illegal Alien Allegedly Raping 15 yr old Daughter

Texas AG Contrasts Trump's Transparent, Productive White House With Obama's

townhall

Cortney O'Brien|

Posted: Mar 01, 2017 3:00 PM

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is breathing a sigh of relief as we usher in a new era with the Trump administration. Unlike Obama, Trump offers a transparent, productive agenda, Paxton told Townhall when he visited our office on Wednesday. Paxton was one of several attorneys general to visit with the president on Tuesday. When he spent some time with the president, Paxton discovered a funny, down to earth guy.

"The president was very different than I expected - he was very funny," Paxton said. "I thought he was much more down to earth than I expected, just kind of like he was one of us, he was really interesting. No pretense, and I also felt like he wanted us to have a good experience. Like he was going out of his way, so he took a picture, he was very engaging, talking to us, took lots of pictures."

Trump offered a few remarks and answered many questions, including some from the Democratic AGs. Then, he surprised them with a very gracious invitation.

"He said, 'Hey do you guys want to go to the Oval Office?,'" Paxton explained. "Kind of like, 'Hey, come see my office.' And then he goes, “Oh wait, let me put it a different way: does anybody not want to come?” And, of course, who didn’t want to come, so he walked us down there and came in from the outside, which I never come into the Oval Office from the outside...He sat down at his desk and answered questions, took pictures."

Trump isn't only taking pictures, Paxton was sure to note. The president's jam packed schedule and executive actions have already made attorneys generals' lives much easier.

"They’ve already rescinded one executive order where the guidelines that Obama put on Title VII and Title IX, they also stepped out of, they withdrew from part of our lawsuit on voter ID in relation to discriminatory purpose, so we’re seeing positive steps that we never saw under the Obama Administration," Paxton noted. "He’s already accomplished more in whatever, I guess he’s been there what two weeks, we’ve gotten more done than we’ve gotten done in our first two years of Obama."

The Obama White House was "unrelenting," Paxton recalled. "They didn’t care what the law said, they wouldn’t talk to us. They were just, they didn’t care. We definitely have a better relationship, way, way better already.”

A few specific areas in which Paxton already senses progress is his effort to roll back sanctuary cities and the Obama-era bathroom mandate.

"If you’re not going to follow the law, then we’re not going to fund your city or your municipality or whatever government entity it is, we’re not going to provide funds for it and in the Senate bill there was actually some penalties and they put an amendment on that added criminal penalties for not following the law," Paxton said in regards to localities that refuse to comply with ICE agents.

As Texas attorney general, Paxton is also encouraged by Trump's effort to return power to the states.

"What I like about President Trump is that he has moved in the direction of actually following the Constitution, separation of powers, and federalism, where the states retain powers as much as possible and he’s pushed the power back to Texas, back to our states.”


Thank You Townhall, Ms O'Brien, and AG Paxton. 


Ahhhnd, . . .

Is media bias a myth?

Surprise, Network News Has Covered Trump Positively, 3% Of The Time

Texas Governor Greg Abbott Pledges To Sign Anti Sanctuary City Bill

weaselzippers



Golf clap…

Via The Daily Signal:

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says he expects the Legislature to pass an anti-sanctuary city bill this year, opening a new front in the battle over “local control.”

Weighing in on the intensifying national immigration debate, the Republican governor pledged to sign S.B. 4, which would require municipalities to enforce migrant detainers at local jails and withhold state grants if they don’t comply.

“I will work with the Legislature to compel government bodies and employees to live up to their oath of office,” Abbott declared.

Cities, counties, or universities that violate the law will face a “multitude of consequence, ranging from financial penalties to removal from office,” the former state attorney general said.

Abbott, who has clashed with Sheriff Lupe Valdez over sanctuary policies in Dallas County, took aim at newly elected Travis County Sheriff Sally Hernandez, who vowed to remove Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from the Austin jail.

“It’s erroneous to have an attitude that laws are like some big buffet where you can choose one item and ignore other items,” Abbott said, referring to sanctuary cities and campuses.

Federal law states: “A federal, state, or local government entity or official may not prohibit, or in any way restrict, any government entity or official from sending to, or receiving from, the Immigration and Naturalization Service [now ICE] information regarding the citizenship or immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any citizen.”

Responding to reports of crimes committed by illegal immigrants—some of them after multiple deportation—Hernandez told The Texas Tribune: “I just don’t think you solve the criminal justice process by deporting them. We talk about being progressive. I believe we need to lead the way.”

Keep reading…

Thank You Gov Abbott, Daily Signal and Dapandico.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott Challenges Obama To "Come And Take It" In Face Of Obama Coming Executive Action Gun Control

weaselzippers

Via Daily Mail:

Texas Gov Greg Abbott criticized President Barack Obama’s plan to move ahead with possible executive actions on guns in a tweet in which he told the Commander-in-Chief to ‘come & take’ the state’s guns.

Obama said in his weekly radio address that he is looking for ways to keep guns out of the hands of ‘a dangerous few’ without depending on Congress to pass a law on the fraught subject of gun control.

He plans to meet his attorney general, Loretta Lynch, on Monday to see what executive actions might be possible. Steps to strengthen background checks could come this week.

At a rally in Biloxi, Mississippi, tonight Donald Trump also pledged to undo any action Obama takes on gun control if he wins the next election.

Keep reading…

Thank You Daily Mail, Nick, and an especial Thank You to Governor Abbott.

Citing Fraud Concerns Texas Officials Subpoena Planned Parenthood Records

Gotta love it. Feel Good story of the day? Week? Month?

fiercehealthpayerantifraud

Days after announcing plans to revoke Medicaid funding, state officials home in on illegal billing practices

October 23, 2015 | By Evan Sweeney

After spending the last several months embroiled in national controversy, Planned Parenthood is facing Medicaid fraud allegations that has resulted in an investigation by Texas state officials, according to The Houston Chronicle.

In a letter dated October 19, Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) Inspector General, Stuart Bowen, informed Planned Parenthood of the agency's strategy to terminate the provider from the Medicaid program for "serious Medicaid program violations" including fraud. The letter did not cite specific instances, but highlighted a 2013 fraud case that Planned Parenthood settled for $4.3 million.

On Thursday, Texas HHSC officials served subpoenas to more than a dozen Planned Parenthood providers, asking them to hand over thousands of patient and employee records. A letter obtained by The Chronicle indicated the state was "conducting an inspection related to certain claims paid by the Medicaid program."  State officials would not comment on the investigation, but Gov. Greg Abbot indicated that the state had more evidence of Medicaid fraud beyond the allegations raised in the 2013 lawsuit. Planned Parenthood representatives said the scope of the subpoenas was "unprecedented" and referred to the investigation as "political grandstanding."  

Appointed in the wake of a $110 million no-bid contract scandal, Bowen has taken significant measures to reduce the backlog of fraud cases, while touting a new law that restructures the definition of fraud and prevents the commission from misusing it's authority to freeze Medicaid payments.

Other states, like Alabama and Louisiana, have also pushed to block Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood, a move that may run afoul of federal law.

For more:
- read the Houston Chronicle article
- here's the letter from the Texas HHSC Office of Inspector General

Related stories:
State efforts to block Planned Parenthood funding may be illegal
New inspector general at Texas agency aims to alter fraud enforcement perceptions
New Texas law aims to improve fraud investigations, weed out clerical errors

Thank You Mr Sweeey and FHPAF.

See what happens when you vote an adult (Greg Abbot) in?

With Gov Abbot at the helm, we're guessing something's going to hit the fan for this teacher, too:

http://www.allenbwest.com/2015/10/7th-grader-explains-what-her-teacher-would-do-if-she-didnt-deny-the-existence-of-god/

Texas Organizes Counter "Jade Helm" Surveillance To Keep Eye On Federal Troops

weaselzippers

Sigh…

Via Houston Chronicle:

When the troops land in Texas for Operation Jade Helm next week, someone will be waiting for them.

Hundreds of people have organized a “Counter Jade Helm” surveillance operation across the Southwestern states and in an effort to keep an eye on the contentious military drill that’s sparked many suspicious of Uncle Sam’s intentions.

Eric Johnston, a 51-year-old retired firefighter and sheriff’s deputy who lives in Kerrville, is a surveillance team leader in Texas.   He’ll coordinate three groups of volunteers, about 20 folks in total, who hope to monitor the SEALs, Green Berets and Air Force Special Ops in Bastrop, Big Spring and Junction when Jade Helm kicks off on July 15.

With media prohibited at the drills, the volunteers could be a main source of information for the highly-anticipate seven-state exercise.

Keep reading…

Thank You Houston Chronicle and Nick. 

Texas Governor Abbot: White House Failing To Secure The Border

breitbart;

by Ildefonso Ortiz 28 Mar 201512

WESLACO, Texas – The White House has been failing America in securing the border forcing Texas to step up to the plate and do what the federal government won’t do. That is the message that Texas governor Greg Abbott relayed during his most recent visit to the border.

“We must continue to protect Texas against the increasing threats from drug cartels, human traffickers,” Abbott said during a press conference attended by Breitbart Texas.

In an effort to secure the border, Abbott is expecting to receive state funding for 500 additional state troopers, cameras, aerostats and other equipment that will eventually allow border authorities better control of the porous border with Mexico.

“This is not just a border issue, this is not a Texas issue,” Gov. Abbott said. “It’s a national issue. The border of Texas is a major crossing point for cartels and cartel related activity but once it crosses it disperses across the entire country. “

As Breitbart Texas’ Bob Price previously reported, Texas DPS deployed additional troopers to the border after a switch in illegal immigration sent hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants and illegal criminal aliens to through the Rio Grande Valley. This quickly overwhelmed U.S. Border Patrol agents and Homeland Security efforts to stop the flow.

“We expect the President of the United States of America to fulfill his responsibility. As much as the state stepped up to secure the border, this is a fundamental responsibility of the federal government,” the Governor stated. “We continue to expect and demand the federal government to step up and perform its fundamental responsibility of securing the border, protecting its sovereignty and keeping the state of Texas safe.”

The Governor said his plan to expand the presence of Texas State Troopers along the border will lead to the scaling back of the Texas National Guard. This will lead to a more efficient force since, as Texas peace officers, the troopers will have arrest powers and other capabilities that the Guardsmen do not.

“We can and we must be more efficient and more effective in the process to secure the border,” Abbott said at the end of the conference.” The challenge is immense but Texas is up to the challenge.”

Follow Ildefonso Ortiz on Twitter and on Facebook.

Thank You Mr Ortiz and Breitbart.


Given Obama's Imperial Executive Amnesty, does this next report turn on any light switches?

weaselzippers;

Special Forces To Swarm Southern States And Operate Undetected For Weeks

Practice…

Via Daily Mail:

Seven Southwestern states will soon be infiltrated by 1,200 military special ops personnel as part of a controversial domestic military training in which some of the elite soldiers will operate undetected among civilians.

Operation Jade Helm begins in July and will last for eight weeks. Soldiers will operate in and around towns in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah and Colorado where some of them wil drop from planes while carrying weapons loaded with blanks in what military officials have dubbed Realistic Military Training.

But with residents of the entire states of Texas and Utah dubbed ‘hostile’ for the purposes of the exercises, Jade Helm has some concerned the drills are too realistic.

Keep reading…

Thank You Daily Mail and Zip 


It's later than you think America, much later.

Poll: Greg Abbot Extends Lead Over Abortion Barbie To 11 Points

weaselzippers;

Poll: Greg Abbot Extends Lead Over Abortion Barbie To 11 Points

It would be immensely satisfying to watch Abbott crush Davis.

[Ed; Greg Abbot is the guy who went after, and beat, JNJ/Risperdal in Court on behalf of the people and State of Texas.]

Via Texas Tribune:

After what are shaping up to be easy primary wins in March for the leading gubernatorial candidates, Republican Greg Abbott starts the general election race for governor with an 11-point lead over Democrat Wendy Davis, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll.

Meanwhile, several statewide races on the Republican primary ballot — for lieutenant governor, attorney general and comptroller — appear headed for May runoffs. None of the leaders in those races looks close to the 50 percent support they would need to win next month’s primary outright.

In the governor’s race, Abbott would beat Davis 47 percent to 36 percent in a general election held today, with 17 percent of registered voters saying they have not made up their minds about which candidate to support, according to the poll.

“We’ve been talking since the beginning of this race about whether anything would be different, and we’re not seeing anything that’s different,” said Jim Henson, co-director of the poll and head of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin. “There was some talk about how Davis had done better in our last poll, and that was partially an artifact of her rise in the fall, and we’re seeing something of a reassertion of the normal pattern.”

In the October survey, Davis’ announcement and sudden political celebrity cut the Republican’s lead over her to 6 percentage points. Now, the distance between the two has widened a bit.

Thank You Texas Tribune and Zip.

And if our reposting of this item puts even 1 more vote into Greg Abbot's total on election day, we'll feel it was worth the time.

It's not just Texas that needs Abbot. It's the Other 49 States too.

Congress Invests: The Fix Is In, For Pfizer And JNJ

Open Secrets has;

A ranking of the Investments members of the US Congress made for Their Own enrichment.

And remember, your Congress Critters are EXEMPT From Insider Trading Penalties.

Most Popular Congressional Investments, 2010

Pfizer/Zoloft ranks number 6, and J&J/Risperdal ranks number 8

Most Popular Congressional Investments, 2010

Just like many Americans, our elected officials like to play it safe with their investments, betting largely on blue chip companies across diverse industry groups. The chart below shows the most common assets among all members of Congress who served during all or part of 2010, ranked by the number of members invested in them, with breakdowns by party.

Select a year:
2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004

House Senate Congress - both House and Senate

Rank	Organization	Total Investors	Democrat Investors	Republican Investors
1	General Electric	94	46	48
2	Procter & Gamble	74	33	41
3	Cisco Systems	72	33	39
4	Microsoft Corp	70	28	42
5	Bank of America	68	28	40
6	Pfizer Inc	61	27	34
7	AT&T Inc	57	20	37
8	Intel Corp	54	24	30
8	Johnson & Johnson	54	18	35
8	Verizon Communications	54	22	32
11	Exxon Mobil	53	14	39
12	Apple Inc	51	21	30
13	Coca-Cola Co	49	22	27
13	JPMorgan Chase & Co	49	19	30
15	PepsiCo Inc	47	22	25
16	Wells Fargo	45	19	25
17	Berkshire Hathaway	43	18	25
18	Walt Disney Co	41	19	22
19	Home Depot	40	16	24
20	Hewlett-Packard	38	15	23
20	McDonald's Corp	38	17	21
22	Merck & Co	37	14	23
22	Citigroup Inc	37	15	22
24	Abbott Laboratories	35	11	24
25	Wal-Mart Stores	31	12	19
26	3M Co	30	16	14
26	Oracle Corp	30	13	17
28	Apache Corp	29	10	19
29	Qualcomm Inc	28	12	16
30	Google Inc	27	10	17
31	Ford Motor Co	26	8	18
31	Conocophillips	26	7	19
31	Goldman Sachs	26	9	17
31	Time Warner	26	14	12
35	United Technologies	25	9	16
35	Chevron Corp	25	8	17
35	Bristol-Myers Squibb	25	7	18
38	BP	24	2	22
38	Amgen Inc	24	9	15
38	Duke Energy	24	10	14
38	Emerson	24	8	16
38	Kraft Foods	24	10	14
38	Teva Pharmaceutical Industries	24	12	12
44	Schlumberger Ltd	23	7	16
44	EMC Corp	23	13	10
44	Comcast Corp	23	12	11
44	Altria Group	23	6	17
48	CVS/Caremark Corp	22	7	15
49	Devon Energy	21	6	15
49	Caterpillar Inc	21	8	13

Note: Senate, House, Executive branch and Judicial rules require the disclosure of items belonging to the filer's spouse and/or dependent children. When present, those items are displayed on this page and are included in all calculations throughout this section.

Feel free to distribute or cite this material, but please credit the Center for Responsive Politics. For permission to reprint for commercial uses, such as textbooks, contact the Center.

Thank You Very Much, Open Secrets, and a hat tip to Ms Tracy Staton at Fierce Pharma for the heads up. And what is it that Congress is Buying, for their Own portfolios?

Allen Jones Full Whistleblower Report pg 23:

"Journalist Robert Whitaker, via the Freedom of Information Act gained access to FDA data on

the drug trials for the Atypicals Risperdal, Seroqual and Zyprexa. Whitaker found that:

1. One in every 145 patients who entered the trials died, and yet those deaths were never

mentioned in the scientific literature.

2. The trials were structured to favor the Atypicals and most of the study reports were

discounted by the FDA as being biased.

3. One in every thirty-five patients in Risperdal trials experienced a serious adverse event, defined by the FDA as a life threatening event or one that required hospitalization.

4. Twenty-two percent of patients in Zyprexa trials suffered serious adverse events

5. The Atypicals did not demonstrate superior effectiveness or safety over Typical

antipsychotics.

It is important to note that a drug company does not have to prove that a new drug is safer or

more effective than an old drug to gain FDA approval. Essentially, the manufacturer has to

demonstrate that the drug is proved to yield better results than placebo in a statistically

significant number of patients in short-term trials (6-8 weeks).

And then there's This revolting admission on the 2005 Risperdal FDA Label:

Suicide attempt was associated with discontinuation in 1.2% of RISPERDAL!-treated patients compared to 0.6% of placebo patients, but, given the almost 40-fold greater exposure time in RISPERDAL! compared to placebo patients, it is unlikely that suicide attempt is a RISPERDAL!-related adverse event (see PRECAUTIONS). Discontinuation for extrapyramidal symptoms was 0% in placebo patients, but 3.8% in active-control patients in the Phase 2 and 3 trials.

Yeah, a 100% Increase in actual Suicide Attempts, but it's probably not the drug which is Inflicted/Marketed as a Suicide Preventative, ......... .

You might also want to read through some State Attorneys General Lawsuits Filed against the makers of J&J's Risperdal, because you gotta figure those State Attorneys Generals didn't just rip the allegations contained therein out of their Ears before they took J&J's Risperdal into Court.

State of Texas, 3rd Amended Petition

http://freepdfhosting.com/420b178a4d.pdf

State of Arkansas

http://www.psychsearch.net/documents/tmap/arkansas_lawsuit.pdf

Commonwealth Of Massachusetts

http://freepdfhosting.com/6808cdeac4.pdf

And then there's this slip opinion from Justice Crouch in South Carolina, characterizing the Risperdal Gang, as he ordered them to Pay $327 Million to the State, as "Detestable".

http://freepdfhosting.com/d4bad152b5.pdf

Below, we've previously shared out that particular 'Detestable'.

http://psychroaches.blogspot.com/search/label/South%20Carolina

"this Court finds the actions of the Defendants, upon this audience, to be detestable."

"Annual Sales of Risperdal worldwide per annual reports of Johnson & Johnson, Inc.

1994: $0.172 Billion

1995: $0.343 Billion

1996: $0.502 Billion

1998: $0.588 Billion

1999: $0.892 Billion

2000: $1.083 Billion

2001: $1.845 Billion

2002: $2.146 Billion

2003: $2.512 Billion

2004: $3.05 Billion

2005: $3.552 Billion

2006: $4.180 Billion

2007: $4.697 Billion

2008: $1.309 Billion

2009: $1.425 Billion

2010: $1.50 Billion

Total for the period: $29.796 Billion

Testimony at trial indicated that the profit margin for sales of Risperdal was 97% or $28.90 Billion for the period of 1994-2010"

And there's more 'Detestable' from J&J and their Risperdal gang. There's Always More Detestable. Like this Detestable, where 40 State AGs are looking into Joining the Detestable fray, which Never should have been Allowed, BY DC's FDA, to have Detestabled in the First place:

http://psychroaches.blogspot.com/2011/08/j-feds-reach-deal-on-one-risperdal.html

After J&J Failed 48% of 161 FDA Inspections in One Year

http://psychroaches.blogspot.com/2011/05/congress-deeply-troubled-with-fdaj.html

And Pfizer's Zoloft? Google Zoloft for an image search.

Are you going to Pay Attention from now until Election Day?

Are you going to call your current Elected Representatives and ask them What, they think they're doing?

Or perhaps you'd like to MAIL Them the State Attorney General Legal Filings, and ask them What in the Hell they think they're doing.



Thank You 60 Minutes.

Washington DC: The town that started out as a swamp and grew into a sewer.