Another HHS official resigns in wake of contracting scandal
AUSTIN -- Texas Health and Human Services Commission official Cody Cazares has resigned, becoming the sixth person to leave the mega-agency in the wake of an eight-month-old contracting scandal still reverberating across state government.
Cazares, who had been on administrative leave since the scandal began last December, served as the chief of staff for former top health agency lawyer Jack Stick, the man at the center of the controversy.
Stick, a former state representative, was the first to resign following questions about how he gave a no-bid, $110 million Medicaid fraud detection contract to Austin technology company 21CT, which had experience in data analytics but none in Medicaid.
The following months brought an steady stream of questions about other no-bid contracts, other types of contracting irregularities and other issues, including perks for favored commission employees.
Read more: http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/politics/texas/article/Yet-another-health-official-has-resigned-in-wake-6435890.php