TMA Legislative News Hotline

Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2009

TMA Ready to Push Prescription for Change
The 81st Texas Legislature convenes today, with a new speaker of the House waiting in the wings, a tight two-year budget needing to be written, and the house of medicine prepared to push an aggressive agenda for physicians and patients. TMA is asking lawmakers to follow the treatment we outline in Doctor's Orders: TMA's Prescription for a Healthy Texas. We know it will be a difficult session, but TMA's design asks legislators to:

  • Hold health insurance companies accountable and create a health insurance code of conduct,
  • Protect our 2003 health care liability reforms,
  • Stop the unsafe expansion of nonphysicians' scope of practice,
  • Preserve physicians' autonomy from hospital and corporate ownership and interference, and
  • Improve Texas' fiscal and physical health.

Watch the six-minute video TMA produced to accompany Doctor's Orders.

It's Official: State Has Less to Spend
Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts Susan Combs yesterday rolled out the details of the budget shortfall we've been talking about for months. Comptroller Combs said the 81st legislature will have $77.1 billion in general revenue to spend for the 2010-11 biennium. That's a 10.5-percent, real-dollar decrease from the $86.2 billion in the current two-year budget cycle.

"The state is not immune to the economic forces wreaking havoc in other sections of the country," she said. Listen to Comptroller Combs' news conference.

This news undoubtedly will put more pressure on lawmakers to rein in spending across the board, including health care services like Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program, and graduate medical education. The Texas Constitution requires a balanced budget, and the comptroller is the official arbiter of that obligation.

"This revenue estimate … reaffirms the importance of fiscal responsibility and prudent spending decisions," said Gov. Rick Perry. "I am confident we will be able to meet our state's needs within this revenue estimate by prioritizing our spending."

Health Insurance Code of Conduct 2009
Each day for the next month, we will outline one of TMA's priorities. Today we want to familiarize you with TMA's prescription for health insurance reform - the Health Insurance Code of Conduct 2009. These measures would ensure transparency and accountability in how health insurance companies conduct business:

  • Health coverage cancellations: Require an independent review of all decisions to cancel an individual health insurance policy prior to the actual cancellation.
  • Calculation of premium quotes: Subject health insurers to "file and use" requirements at the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI), like other kinds of insurers.
  • Calculation of medical loss ratio: Require health insurers to disclose how they spend the patient's premium dollar.
  • Unregulated secondary networks (silent preferred provider organizations): Regulate how a physician's contract information is sold, leased, or shared among health insurance companies.
  • Physician rankings: Require health insurance companies to use scientifically valid criteria to evaluate physicians' performance and disclose those criteria in advance.
  • Claims processing: Prevent health insurance companies from reverting to their old, unethical ways of processing claims.

Legislators Continue to File Bills
Bills are being filed at record speed. Since November, more than 1,000 bills and resolutions have been filed for consideration this session. We expect the total number of bills filed to reach around 4,000.

Rep. Myra Crownover (R-Denton) filed legislation to eliminate smoking in all indoor public and private workplaces - including restaurants and bars. Health insurance also is a hot topic - some bills we like and some we don't. Bills in the hopper so far include those that would regulate preferred provider organizations, require payment for routine care for patients in medical trials, and prohibit balance billing. At this time, TMA is tracking more than 190 of these bills, and that number is growing quickly as well. Each session, we end up monitoring and working on more than 1,000 bills related to health care. We will keep you posted on critical issues as they unfold.
 
Sign Up for First Tuesdays Today
Pack your white coat and head to Austin on Feb. 3, March 3, April 7, or May 5 to take part in First Tuesdays at the Capitol. Don't miss the chance to meet with lawmakers and their staff and present medicine's case in person. Hundreds of physicians in the galleries and hearing rooms have a powerful impact on the Texas Legislature. Sign up today.

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Learn more about TMA’s priority issues for the 81st Texas Legislature.

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