Bill Caption

Relating to the Office of the Inspector General.

Fiscal Notes

Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for SB 1803, Committee Report 2nd House, Substituted: a negative impact of ($1,258,902) through the biennium ending August 31, 2015. The bill would make no appropriation but could provide the legal basis for an appropriation of funds to implement the provisions of the bill.

Bill Analysis

Summary: CSSB 1803 would significantly change the way the Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (OIG) investigates and reports cases of Medicaid fraud.

Analysis: The House Committee Substitute of SB 1803 would strip the OIG of its ability to go after Medicaid fraud. This would leave Texas taxpayers footing the bill for potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in Medicaid fraud. The OIG performs an essential function in preventing Medicaid waste, fraud, and abuse. The OIG reported more than half a billion dollars in Medicaid fraud in 2012; this legislation would jeopardize the agency’s ability to prevent that fraud in the future. It would be detrimental to transparency, accountability, and the fiduciary duty of government to ensure that taxpayer dollars are used wisely. We oppose this legislation.

Amendment Recommendation: The House should amend this legislation with the Senate's Engrossed version. If an amendment is adopted replacing the House Committee Substitute with the Senate Engrossed version, we would support the bill.