HHS Lists Dozens of Technology Needs for Coming Budget Years

Health and Human Services (HHS) has more than 40 exceptional items listed in its biennial budget request, and about two dozen of them are either straightforward IT projects or have IT components.

The top two systems requests are for taking the Texas Integrated Eligibility Redesign System (TIERS) into the cloud and to modernize the Medicaid enterprise system.

Here are highlights of additional top 10 exceptional items with an IT component for the 2026-27 budget years.

• $73.2 million for protecting vulnerable adults and children from abuse, neglect and exploitation: includes an IT refresh, which generally includes up to 10,000 desktops and laptops each year
• $67.4 million to prevent loss of services: includes website work, reporting and analysis as required by the federal government
• $59.8 million for resources to carry out the agency mission: includes additional staff to help with contracting and procurement, IT audits, CAPPS support, quality assurance and the help desks
• $41.9 million for compliance with state initiatives: includes Childcare Licensing Automated Support System modifications and additional dedicated staff members; related to SB1849
• $22.4 million for grants management ongoing operations: includes ongoing migration of various programs into the web-based system. There was $21.4 million appropriated for the current biennium, and the system was set to go live in September.

The budget request is made by the Health and Human Services Commission, the administrative arm of HHS. The full budget request is located online; however, it is broken down at the Legislative Budget Board’s website.