According to The Texas Tribune, two more employees at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission have been terminated for accessing confidential information belonging to individuals who had applied for specific programs. This incident follows the previous dismissal of several employees due to a data breach that occurred at the agency towards the end of last year.
“Health and Human Services Commission learned that some of their employees were accessing the private information of people seeking public assistance programs like Medicaid or food stamps,” said James Barragán, politics reporter for The Texas Tribune. “This impacts about 60,000 people who had applied or received assistance between June 2021 and December 2024.”
The breach is still under investigation, and it remains uncertain how it has affected the accounts of Texans who were impacted. Additionally, this incident has sparked concerns about the supervision of employees in public agencies during the remote work era. Some lawmakers worry that remote work policies have restricted public access to government services.
No one has been arrested in connection with the breach thus far.
“These two new firings bring the total to nine Health and Human Services employees who’ve been fired in this scandal,” Barragán said. “Some have been referred to local prosecutors for potential prosecution, and there’s still no price tag on the cost of this breach.”