No-bid Texas Medicaid fraud contracts raising questions [Austin American-Statesman]

11/24/14 - No-bid Texas Medicaid fraud contracts raising questions [Austin American-Statesman]

Nov. 24As Texas' top health officials steer $110 million in no-bid contracts to an Austin tech company they say is revolutionizing Medicaid fraud investigations, the state's top contract manager says those contracts are too loosely written and raise questions about what taxpayers are receiving in return. "It's just so generic," said Mary Cheryl Dorwart, a top contract official at the Department of Information Resources, the state's primary vehicle for purchasing everything from printers to telecommunications software. Dorwart was referring to the state's initial contract with 21CT, a cyberdefense contractor that, despite having no prior experience with Medicaid, was tapped by state Medicaid fraud investigators in 2012 to do something they said no one else could. 21CT promised to gather, clean and analyze vast amounts of messy data languishing in state servers not only to find needles in countless haystacks, but to predict fraud before it happens. Irene Williams, CEO of 21CT, on Friday defended the deals to the American-Statesman and said her company is living up to its promise and has provided benefits to Texas "beyond the scope" of what the contract stipulates. "We have bent over backwards and happily served the customer," she said of 21CT's ongoing work with the state, which has cost about $20 million so far. "This has been an incredibly successful project." The customer, the Office of Inspector General, and its parent agency, the state Health and Human Services Commission, have reported positive reviews as they have worked to secure an additional $90 million contract with 21CT. continue to read here