AUSTIN (Nexstar) — The Texas House Committee on the Delivery of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is calling for an immediate audit of and sanctions against Superior HealthPlan, a state Medicaid contractor that manages the care of sick and disabled children and is accused of spying on lawmakers and private citizens.

On Tuesday, the lawmakers released a copy of a letter they sent to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, asking the agency to suspend Superior’s ability to enroll new Medicaid members and to bar the company from receiving any new Texas Medicaid contracts until the Texas Attorney General’s office concludes its ongoing investigation into the company’s surveillance practices.

DOGE also submitted a request with the State Auditor’s Office to conduct a comprehensive review of financial records of Superior and its parent company, Centene Corporation, to find any “evidence of financial irregularities or commingling of state funds, undisclosed payments to contractors, violations of contract terms, and communications regarding whistleblower reports or obstruction of regulatory investigations.”

affiliate KXAN reached out to Centene for a response and a spokesperson for the company sent an emailed response, saying, “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^th DOGE committee hearing. The actions in question amounted to a limited number of remote, desk-based research projects using publicly available information and occurred more than five years ago. None of the research was used for unlawful or unethical purposes. For 25 years, Superior has delivered access to high-quality health care to Texans statewide and employs 3,300 people across the state. Superior is consistently rated among the highest quality health plans serving the Texas Medicaid program. We remain committed to continued transparency and accountability in our ongoing partnership with the State.”

DOGE Lawmakers and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton have accused Superior of hiring private investigators to get information on lawmakers, who influence Medicaid policy, and private citizens, who are patients.

KXAN investigators reviewed copies of emails showing Superior’s former CEO, Mark Sanders, asking for ‘in-depth’ reports about certain lawmakers and various health care providers from a personnel group known for background investigations.

The emails, sent between 2017 and 2019, were publicly revealed during a March 26 DOGE committee hearing. There, lawmakers grilled Sanders over the company’s surveillance practices.

At the time, committee chairman Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake, told Sanders, “I don’t think what any of us expected was for a health insurance company that is funded mostly by Texas taxpayer dollars — that they would use some of those monies to hire private investigators — that they would hire a private investigator to follow a mom whose child was being denied medical care.”

One day after the hearing, Centene announced that Sanders was no longer with the company.

It also released a statement, saying the company had launched an internal investigation to “examine the conduct in question and to ensure our current practices are fully aligned with our core values and ethical standards.”

According to Centene’s investigation to date, the research in question was “conducted through publicly or commercially available resources and limited to desk-based research.” The statement also explicitly said no individual was ever followed or photographed.

The statement went on, “Background research has many business uses, including meeting preparation as well as helping to identify conflicts of interest and potential fraud, waste, and abuse, which is part of our duty as a government-sponsored healthcare organization. The research in question included irrelevant and unnecessary personal information. That was inappropriate and never should have happened. This occurred prior to 2019 and does not reflect the values or standards of our current leadership. For that, we offer our sincere and unequivocal apology. 

The company also noted that the suggestions that these materials were used for leverage or blackmail are “completely false.”

In the DOGE announcement on Tuesday, Rep. Capriglione noted that the practices “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.”

He went on, “We now have no choice but to hold Superior accountable to protect the integrity of our healthcare and contracting systems. This is a serious matter of public trust, and we will use every tool available to protect the rights, privacy, and tax dollars of Texans and the integrity of our public health system.”

Patient advocates told KXAN investigators that the emails point to the need for more accountability and oversight for the system in which Texas funnels public dollars to the private companies that operate the state’s various Medicaid programs and manage care for many low-income, elderly, or disabled Texans and foster children.

“Sunlight is the best disinfectant. There is, I think, again, a pattern of behavior here that is really disturbing. Texans deserve better, and taxpayers deserve better. Patients deserve better,” said Hannah Mehta, founder of the advocacy group Protect TX Fragile Kids.

She went on, “This is horrifying and alarming for families who literally are fighting for life, sustaining care for their children, trying to keep their kids alive.”