83rd Texas Legislature

What the End-of-Life Bill Really Does
Putting our patient’s interest first sometimes means providing comfort care and allowing the patient to die a calm, peaceful, and honorable death. In the most cases, the patient, the physician, and the family agree on this course of action.

New Pilot for SNAP Recipients Proposed
We believe many families that rely on SNAP want to make healthier food choices. HB 3434 would help them make this step. Just as physicians follow evidence-based practice guidelines developed from high quality studies, we believe a properly designed pilot project can provide critical information needed to shape SNAP so it can become a healthy food resource. A pilot program is a reasonable approach to encourage more healthy food choices, more of the time.

TMA Urges Bold Medicaid Fee Hike
Legislators should take "bold action to fix a major problem" in the Medicaid program and "increase Medicaid payments to Medicare parity for all physicians and services," Texas Medical Association President Michael E. Speer, MD, urged in a letter to House and Senate members writing the 2014-15 state budget.

Standardized Prior Authorizations Forms Save Time and Money
Texas physicians and their office staff support CSSB 1216 because it will help physician practices help patients receive their necessary medical and health care services in a timely manner and with less administrative hassle and complexity. CSSB 1216 provides for the creation of a uniform standard prior-authorization request form for the authorization of health care services, with input from a stakeholder workgroup to be formed at the Texas Department of Insurance. Once the standard form is developed, it will be required to be used across insurers and health benefit managers.

TMA Supports Education for Breast Cancer Patients
We agree with Representative Ashby that a woman facing surgery for breast cancer should be informed about appropriate treatment protocols for her specific stage of breast cancer — and, if appropriate, her options for breast reconstruction. This discussion and exchange of information is important before she has any treatment, not breast cancer surgery specifically. HB 1750 fosters that dialogue but isn’t prescriptive about what has to be discussed. This bill language preserves the discretion of the physician regarding what each patient needs and which treatment options to discuss as pertinent to the patient’s diagnosis and stage of disease or current treatment.

Physicians Want Accurate Information in WRTK Brochure
The WRTK booklet contains descriptive information on medical risks and procedures for women seeking an abortion that are neither current nor accurate. While we recognize much of the booklet’s content is prescribed in statute, we also have concerns about terms and inferences prevalent throughout its pages. Some of the terms used are not appropriate for a health information booklet.

Standard Prior Authorization Form Needed
Texas physicians and their office staff support HB 1604 because it will help physician practices help patients receive their necessary medical and health care services in a timely manner and with less administrative hassle and complexity. HB 1604 provides for the creation of a uniform standard prior-authorization request form for the authorization of health care services, with input from a stakeholder workgroup to be formed at the Texas Department of Insurance. Once the standard form is developed, it will be required to be used across insurers and health benefit managers.

Good Faith Price Estimates Hinge on Health Insurers
As you have heard in earlier testimony presented on behalf of TMA, the requirement for the provision of a good-faith estimate by a physician or health care provider about the actual expected payments hinges on the ability to obtain that information from health plans. This committee substitute has no such requirement.