Superior HealthPlan CEO Fired Amidst Probe into Customer Surveillance
AUSTIN — Mark Sanders, the former chief executive of Superior HealthPlan, has been terminated from his position following his admission to hiring private investigators to conduct surveillance on customers. The announcement came after Sanders testified before the Texas House Delivery of Government Efficiency Committee about Medicaid procurement practices.
During the legislative hearing on Wednesday, Sanders acknowledged that private investigators were hired to gather background information on state lawmakers and other individuals. The details of the surveillance, which included background checks and attempts to obtain private records, have raised serious concerns.
“The conduct highlighted yesterday during the course of the Texas House Committee hearing is not reflective of our values nor is it a practice Centene’s current leadership condones,” Centene, Superior’s parent company, stated in a released statement. “To this end, Mark Sanders is no longer with our organization.”
Sanders’ firing coincided with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s announcement that he would initiate an investigation into the company. The probe will focus on the allegations, which include claims that Superior may have attempted to use the information gathered to influence lawmakers securing state contracts, as well as avoiding paying legitimate claims.
“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,” said Paxton in a statement. “I will get to the bottom of this, uncover any illegal activity, and hold bad actors responsible.”
The investigations, which reportedly began in 2017, were allegedly ordered by Sanders, who had recently taken over as CEO. The healthcare firm was already dealing with lawsuits at the time concerning denials of coverage.
Under questioning, Sanders testified that the investigators performed “routine” background checks on several state representatives, senators, healthcare providers, patients and their families, and a journalist. Sanders claimed that the practice has since been discontinued.
Centene released a statement expressing regret over the impact of Sanders’ actions on the company’s partners.
“Superior’s credibility rests on being a trusted partner to our members, government stakeholders and providers,” the company said. “While we took the necessary steps to ensure this conduct was stopped a number of years ago, yesterday’s hearing made clear we failed to address its full impact.”
Lawmakers, including Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham, then a state senator, and Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, were among those targeted by the investigations. Rep. Capriglione, chairman of the DOGE committee, questioned Sanders about the rationale behind the background checks.
“You’ve hired private investigators to look at not only but also people who have filed claims and felt that they deserved those claims but that you felt that they didn’t,” Capriglione said.
In an interview, Capriglione stated his belief that Paxton’s investigation should continue. He added, “When this happens, it’s a culture within the company…I think that has to be investigated as well.”
House bills have been filed to combat this issue, Capriglione said.
The Griffin Personnel Group, a Missouri-based firm, was used in the investigations and also attempted to obtain the divorce records of Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown.
The background checks occurred during a period when Centene was facing a lawsuit following a series of articles by The News reporter J. David McSwane in 2018. The series revealed health care companies, including Superior, to be denying or delaying taxpayer-funded treatments while generating substantial profits. McSwane, patients, and health care providers were also subjected to background checks ordered by Superior, with reports containing photos of houses and credit checks.
Rep. Tony Tinderholt, R-Arlington, suggested that Sanders may have hired the private investigators to gain leverage on lawmakers.
Rep. Ellen Troxclair, R-Lakeway, expressed her frustration that the committee, which was convened to learn more about Medicaid, had to instead focus on Sanders’ company reading lawmakers’ divorce records. “When are you going to tell us that you’re going to do better, that you’re going to change?” she asked.
