Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced an investigation into Superior HealthPlan, a Medicaid insurance provider, on Thursday. The probe comes after allegations that the company engaged in illegal surveillance of Texans.
Superior HealthPlan provides Medicaid coverage to adults and children, as well as coverage for the Children’s Health Insurance Program in Texas. The investigation alleges the company used private investigators to perform surveillance and gather potentially confidential information on lawmakers, journalists, and other Texans.
“The allegations concerning Superior’s actions, such as actions that were characterized as potentially blackmailing lawmakers to secure state contracts and surveilling private citizens to avoid paying legitimate claims, are deeply troubling,” Paxton stated.
Superior HealthPlan CEO Mark Sanders was questioned Wednesday by members of the Texas House Committee on the Delivery of Government Efficiency about his company’s use of private investigators. The topic arose as lawmakers questioned company representatives about potential fraud and waste of taxpayer funds related to the company’s Medicaid contracts.
Sanders told the committee that the company had used private investigators in the past, but not in the last few years. Sanders was fired from his position on Thursday, according to a report in the Dallas Morning News.
At Wednesday’s hearing, Sanders defended his company’s actions, claiming the information gathered was publicly available. “It was just understanding (what interests people), so we could have been knowledgeable of when we’re meeting with different individuals. That’s really it,” Sanders replied.
Lawmakers expressed concern that the actions aimed to secure leverage to help the company win future state contracts, discredit legitimate insurance claims, and track journalists reporting on allegations against Superior HealthPlan.
State Rep. Tony Tinderholt, R-Arlington, stated, “I disagree. You wanted leverage, and you felt that you were going to use it. Just disgusting.”
State Rep. David Cook, R-Mansfield, questioned why private investigators working for Superior HealthPlan looked into legislators’ divorce records. Sanders responded, “I don’t recall at the time.”
House Bill 5061, filed by state Rep. Jeff Leach, addresses some of the lawmakers’ concerns by prohibiting any state contractor from engaging in surveillance.
“We’re up here talking to a company who has received millions, billions of dollars in taxpayer funds through Medicaid contracts, who has used that money to hire private investigators to follow around patients and legislators that are [now] asking questions about what the heck is going on,” said state Rep. Ellen Troxclair, R-Lakeway. “It’s ridiculous.”
Tiffany Young, spokesperson for Texas Health and Human Services, referred questions on the investigation’s potential impact on Texans’ Medicaid coverage to Paxton’s office. The attorney general’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday afternoon.
