More than 33,000 state benefits recipients have had their personal information improperly accessed by state employees — bringing the total number of people impacted to about 94,000, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission announced Wednesday afternoon.
It’s the latest update in an ongoing investigation into breaches by the agency’s own employees accused of improperly using and, in some cases, stealing money from thousands of Texans receiving Medicaid, food stamp and other assistance programs. The investigation oreviously discovered about 61,000 impacted.
HHSC said at least nine employees have been fired and reported to the Texas Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.
HHSC referred KERA News to its press release when reached for further comment.
The data that may have been compromised was not the same for everyone but includes names, home addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, email addresses, Social Security numbers, Medicaid and Medicare identification numbers, employment, banking, health insurance, and more.
Affected users include anyone who applied or received benefits between June 2021 and January 2025 and should have been notified via first-class mail no later than April 30.
HHSC said it was first alerted of the incident last November but have since found the employee misconduct first occurred last July.
In separate cases last year, one employee was fired after officials claimed she illegally possessed information on the public assistance accounts of 3,392 people and another two were fired after $270,000 was stolen from some 500 food stamp accounts, according to the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.
More than 90 data leaks have been reported in Texas this year alone. Gov. Greg Abbott vowed to toughen up on cybersecurity measures during his State of the State speech in January and blamed to hackers from China and Russia for the increase in data breaches.
One of Abbott’s top priorities this legislative session is the creation of a Texas Cyber Command — a command center aimed at strengthening the state’s ability to detect and prevent cyberattacks through HB 150, which already passed the Texas House.
Penelope Rivera is KERA's breaking news reporter. Got a tip? Email Penelope Rivera at privera@kera.org.
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