Weekly News Round Up Of The State’s Top Law Enforcement Officer – Texas Attorney General

Staff Report

Texas Attorney General, Ken Paxton is the lawyer for the State of Texas and is charged by the Texas Constitution to:

• defend the laws and the Constitution of the State of Texas
• represent the State in litigation
• approve public bond issues

To fulfill these responsibilities, the Office of the Attorney General serves as legal counsel to all boards and agencies of state government, issues legal opinions when requested by the Governor, heads of state agencies and other officials and agencies as provided by Texas statutes.

The Texas AG sits as an ex-officio member of state committees and commissions, and defends challenges to state laws and suits against both state agencies and individual employees of the State.

Many Texans look to the Office of the Attorney General for guidance with disputes and legal issues. The agency receives hundreds of letters, phone calls and visits each week about crime victims’ compensation, child support, abuse in nursing homes, possible consumer fraud and other topics. To find out more about the Texas Attorney General, visit the official website at https://texasattorneygeneral.gov/.

WEEKLY NEWS ROUND-UP OF THE STATE’S

TOP LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER…

THE TEXAS ATTORNEY GENERAL

AG Paxton’s Child Exploitation Unit Arrests Navarro County Man for Possession of Child Pornography

AUSTIN – Attorney General Ken Paxton today announced that the Child Exploitation Unit (CEU) of his office arrested 42-year-old Jessie Eugene Nalley, of Barry, Texas, on four counts of possession of child pornography, a third-degree felony.

A CyberTipline report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) led CEU investigators to Nalley, who admitted to possessing child pornography on a cell phone and uploading images to an online account.

During a search of his home, investigators seized multiple digital storage devices for further examination by the Digital Forensics Unit of the attorney general’s office.

Attorney General Paxton’s office works to protect children by using the latest technology to track down some of the most profoundly evil predators online.

The CEU proactively seeks out and arrests predators who commit crimes against children using technology and online sources.

Attorney General Paxton urges all parents and teachers to become aware of the risks our children face on the internet and take steps to help ensure their children’s safety.

If you suspect someone is producing or downloading child pornography you can report it to NCMEC. For more information on cyber safety, please visit: https://texasattorneygeneral.gov/initiatives/cyber-safety/.

Request For Opinion

Re: Purchasing authority of a criminal district attorney’s office as a specialized local entity under Local Government Code section 140.003

Received: Tuesday, February 19, 2019

Read Original: RQ-0272-KP

Requestor: The Honorable Sharen Wilson
Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney
401 West Belknap
Fort Worth, Texas 76196

Request For Opinion

Re: Applicability of a city’s charter to a municipal development district created by the city

Received: Tuesday, February 19, 2019

Read the Original: RQ-0273-KP

Requestor: The Honorable Greg Buckley
Childress County Attorney
100 Avenue East NW, Suite 2
Childress, Texas 79201

AG Paxton Recovers Record $236 Million for Texas in Medicaid Fraud Settlement

AUSTIN – Attorney General Ken Paxton today announced that Xerox Corporation and several of its former subsidiaries – including Conduent, Inc. – agreed to a $235.9 million settlement with the State of Texas to resolve a lawsuit brought under the Texas Medicaid Fraud Prevention Act (TMFPA) and other grounds regarding the processing of prior authorization requests by dentists to deliver orthodontic services to Medicaid patients.

The announced settlement represents the largest single resolution in a case filed by the attorney general’s office for Medicaid-related claims.

Xerox and its companies were responsible for reviewing and approving or denying requests by Medicaid providers to deliver orthodontic services between January 2004 and March 2012.

Under Texas law, only those requests that meet strict Medicaid program requirements are allowable. The Medicaid program does not pay for braces for cosmetic purposes.

The attorney general’s office determined that employees of Xerox, Conduent and related companies rubber-stamped orthodontic prior authorization requests without assuring the required review of each request by qualified clinical personnel, which violated its responsibilities.

As a result, expensive, taxpayer-funded orthodontic work was performed on thousands of children who either didn’t meet the Medicaid standard for braces or didn’t require treatment.

“Misconduct by employees of Xerox and its related companies compromised the integrity of the Medicaid program – the very program Texas hired the Xerox defendants to safeguard through the administration of a proper prior authorization review,” Attorney General Paxton said. “We’re proud of this recovery of taxpayer money. My office is committed to ensuring that Medicaid dollars are preserved for those who need it most.”

Attorney General Paxton credited the close cooperation, support and assistance of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission – which runs the state Medicaid program – for helping his office achieve a final settlement.

The settlement is the culmination of investigative work and litigation by Attorney General Paxton’s Civil Medicaid Fraud Division. In April 2012, it launched a formal investigation into Xerox.

In May 2014, the attorney general’s office filed a lawsuit against the Xerox defendants. Last year, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that Xerox was responsible for its conduct and could not deflect its liability by blaming the dentists who submitted the prior authorization requests in the first place.

Though the settlement with the Xerox defendants is final, Attorney General Paxton’s office still has pending litigation against dental and orthodontic providers who allegedly committed unlawful acts under the TMFPA in connection with their requests for reimbursement for delivering orthodontic services.

Since 2000, the Civil Medicaid Fraud Division of the attorney general’s office has recovered more than $2 billion for taxpayers under the Texas Medicaid Fraud Prevention Act.

View a copy of the settlement here.