Texas officials cancel North Texas transit agency's Medicaid contract, launch fraud investigation
SHERMAN, Texas -- Texas Health and Human Services Commission Executive Commissioner Charles Smith notified TAPS CEO Tim State officials canceled their multimillion-dollar Medicaid contract with financially troubled TAPS Public Transit on Thursday and launched an investigation into the possibility of fraud.
Sherman-based Texoma Area Paratransit System won the three-year contract in July 2014 to provide non-emergency medical trips to Medicaid recipients in a 16-county area, including Collin County. The service is in addition to its mission of providing on-demand and fixed-route bus service in a seven-county area.
TAPS had created a separate unit for the Medicaid contract called TAPS Access, which worked with multiple subcontractors to provide the rides. But the handling of those subcontracts has recently come into question.
Payment is based on the number of trips provided. In the fiscal year that ended in September, TAPS received an average of $480,000 per month under the state contract, officials said.
Read more: http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/mckinney/headlines/20151112-state-cancels-taps-medicaid-contract-launches-fraud-investigation.ece
An article from two days ago also appeared in the Dallas Morning News:
http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com/2015/11/taps-public-transit-holds-final-public-hearing-thursday-in-mckinney-service-cuts-to-be-announced-friday.html/
