News Release: A Bully In Beaumont
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For Immediate Release
December 7, 2021
The state’s largest health insurance plan for needy Texas children is trying to deny Beaumont’s new Sarah Street Wellness Group facility from submitting insurance claims for children with behavioral and psychological problems, even though Texas Children’s Health Plan receives almost $1 billion in state tax money to provide medical and psychological services.
The mayor and superintendent of Beaumont ISD were among those who applauded the grand opening of the wellness center in the old YMCA building just last month. Beaumont ISD already has a contract with Sarah Street to help with early intervention with troubled kids.
“More and more kids are coming to us with adverse situations they face in their lives, and they need that support,” said Superintendent Dr. Shannon Allen.
Yet TCHP is denying Sarah Street the right to serve these kids.
“Of all the insurance companies in Texas that deal with Medicaid, only one is not allowing this to happen,” Sarah Street founder Troy Marsaw told us. “You have to wonder why.”
We know why.
Marsaw complained years ago when TCHP started denying coverage for his counseling services in Houston. TCHP later filed suit to silence Marsaw when a TCHP whistleblower recorded a secret audiotape of an insurance company meeting and it was leaked to Dolcefino Consulting.
Now TCHP has sent Marsaw correspondence that because they are involved in a lawsuit, TCHP will not allow Sarah Street to get insurance claims.
“We complained 8 months ago to the Office of Inspector General when that audio tape exposed what TCHP was trying to get away with, and this latest action smacks of pure and simple retaliation,” said Wayne Dolcefino, President of Dolcefino Communications, the Houston-based investigative media consulting firm. “The kids in Beaumont have a right to get help, and if the recent event of that school shooting near Detroit doesn’t remind TCHP of the stakes then I’m not sure what will. The state should intervene.”
Dolcefino Consulting first reported on the conduct of TCHP two years ago this week. A lawyer for TCHP tried to get us to remove the audio from the internet and our website and we refused. You can still watch it today, along with a new video documenting the Beaumont problem with TCHP.
The company is paid $980 million by Texas taxpayers to provide insurance coverage for children. Denying claims boosts the company’s profits. TCHP has been previously fined for its conduct.
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