Attorney General Ken Paxton’s Healthcare Program Enforcement Division (“HPED”) has launched investigations into dozens of Medicaid providers across Texas.
The investigations were launched by utilizing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (“HHS”) claims data that was released due to efforts by the Department of Government Efficiency (“DOGE”).
The types of providers targeted include home health providers, occupational therapy providers, and entities that potentially committed fraud related to COVID-19 treatments.
Earlier this year, DOGE announced the release of federal HHS Medicaid data and publicized it on X as part of an effort to detect Medicaid fraud. Based on this data, the Office of the Attorney General has launched numerous new investigations that target Medicaid providers. These investigations will leverage DOGE’s newly released data, the OAG’s internal claims data, and other investigative tools, including Civil Investigative Demands (“CIDs”) where appropriate in anticipation of litigation.
“Unlike states that are run by radical left-wing lunatics, we will not tolerate the abuse of taxpayer funded programs in Texas,” said Attorney General Paxton. “My office has already recovered over $1 billion from Medicaid fraud alone since 2020, and I will continue to pursue any fraudster who attempts to cheat Texans out of money by exploiting our healthcare system.”
Attorney General Paxton’s Healthcare Program Enforcement Division has recently filed a number of landmark cases against entities that have illegally taken advantage of Texans, including suing Children’s Health and a Texas doctor “transitioning” kids, suing a dental network defrauding Texas Medicaid, suing Sanofi and Eli Lilly for providing illegal kickbacks to doctors, and suing Sanofi and Bristol-Myers Squibb for failing to disclose that their drug Plavix did not work effectively for certain patients. Attorney General Paxton’s HPED has also secured millions for Texans, including recently securing $41.5 million from Pfizer and Tris Pharma for providing adulterated drugs to children.
Article source and photo credit: Texas Attorney General
