Texas lawmakers are urging further action against Superior Health Plan, after the plan’s former CEO admitted to using private investigators to research lawmakers.
In an April 10 letter, the members of Texas House Committee on Delivering on Government Efficiency requested the state auditor provide compliance and financial history for the company.
State Rep. Giovanni Capriglione wrote an additional letter to the commissioner of Texas’s Health and Human Services Commission, requesting the commission pause enrollments in Superior’s Medicaid plans until an investigation is completed.
Superior Health Plan, a Centene subsidiary, is one of several managed care plans that administer Texas’s Medicaid program. In March, Centene fired former CEO Mark Sanders, after he told lawmakers at a committee hearing that he hired private investigators to dig up information about members, lawmakers and journalists.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said he would open an investigation into the conduct. Mr. Capriglione expressed concern the information gathered could have been used to gain leverage on lawmakers making decisions about the state’s Medicaid program.
“The actions revealed by the DOGE committee were nothing short of appalling and raised serious questions about whether Superior sought to gain leverage over legislators in order to advance their own contracting interests,” Mr. Caprigione said in an April 15 statement. “We now have no choice but to hold Superior accountable to protect the integrity of our healthcare and contracting system.”
A Centene spokesperson told Becker’s the company found no evidence of legal violations in its investigation of Mr. Sanders’ conduct.
“We look forward to the opportunity to share information with HHSC and the Attorney General to correct the numerous false accusations that have stemmed from the March 26 DOGE committee hearing,” a Centene spokesperson said. “The research in question was limited in number, desk-based, only used publicly available information and occurred more than five years ago. None of the research was used for unlawful or unethical purposes.”
In his letter to Texas HHSC Commissioner Cecile Young, Mr. Capriglione urged the department to prevent Superior from receiving any new Medicaid contract awards, and to begin an emergency procurement plan to secure a new insurer to replace Superior Health Plan.
Texas lawmakers also introduced a bill that would prohibit state contractors from “surveilling” members of the state legislature, state employees or individuals making a complaint against the contractor. The bill passed the government efficiency committee by a unanimous vote.
Becker’s has reached out to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission for comment and will update this article if more information becomes available.
