Good riddance, if you ask me.
Deputy Commissioner of Health and Human Services Gregg Phillips, a lightning rod for critics of the state’s massive social services overhaul, said Friday he is resigning.
“I didn’t anticipate this effort on my part would be a long-term deal,” said Phillips, who has discussed possibly resigning from the state’s No. 2 health post since last December.
Since his arrival at the commission in March 2003, Phillips has been intimately involved in the shaping and execution of House Bill 2292, a dramatic overhaul and consolidation of 12 state social services agencies into five.
His resignation is effective Sept. 3.
Phillips said he had no immediate plans and that a lingering health issue had influenced his decision. He did not wish to elaborate on the health issue, however.
The Texas Democratic Party, meanwhile, issued a statement calling the resignation “forced” and tying Phillips to a controversy involving HHSC’s $20 million in overpayments to Clarendon National Insurance Co.
Clarendon manages the Children’s Health Insurance Program in rural Texas.
The statement called the resignation an “effort by Gov. Rick Perry and his staff to limit the political damage by tossing a faceless bureaucrat to the wolves.”
Perry spokesman Robert Black said the resignation was not forced and had nothing to do with the CHIP controversy.
“I don’t know why he resigned,” Black said, adding Perry has called the CHIP controversy “inexcusable” and is seeking two investigations that could result in refunds to the state.
Phillips also denied his resignation was related to CHIP or any other state contracting issue and added that he had no intention of working for any of the companies that have contracts with HHSC as part of a sweeping privatization of state government services.
He also said he will not return to his old job heading a company called Enterject, which has been awarded contracts from the Texas Workforce Commission.
More on Gregg Phillips here and here.
Great..he deserves everything that comes to him
gregg phillips has gone to work for maximus. a sister company to accenture-that got the contract to do the 211 and replace all state employees except a few. fns and usda has stated they will not fund a private firm more than 10% of the food stamp cases they do and the state got into this contract without their prior apporval and the state will eat the one billion they are paying accenture. the senate has passed a bill to stop the overhaul and it still needs to pass in the house. there needs to be a federal investigation into this whole scheme. who is profiting? who is getting the big jobs, the kick backs, the perks. not the needy of texas who will be expected to apply thru 211 by phone or over the internet. 211 had just started taking info only calls when katrina hit and they could not handle the volume and had to bring in help. and that was just to answer questions. finally, after no one could get thru they posted an alternative phone number. the roll out for the austin area to go to 211 for application processing was to be january 2006, but has not been pushed back to may 2006. all state employees have had to apply for their own jobs and were told yesterday who had jobs after the roll out. i work in the hill county office and we will become a 2 worker, 1 clerk office and keep the meridian office open as a satillite office with 3 people, just 3 people. we are drowning now. we just took on at least 125000 new needy and indigent in texas for life with these last disasters. if clients cant get thru to make applications by phone- and of course none of my client can apply online, they will continue to come to our office. there is no way this thing will work. FNS knows it. Please check into Gregg Phillips more and Albert Hawklins, while you are at it. they are all in bed together.