UNDER THE ROTUNDA
Lawmakers have a busy week ahead. House and Senate committees are in full swing and taking bills all week.
The House Human Services Committee will take up House Bill 1680 by Rep. Richard Raymond (D-Laredo) that addresses recommendations proposed by the Sunset Advisory Commission to continue the Texas Health Services Authority (THSA). THSA was created by the Texas Legislature in 2007 as a public-private partnership to help coordinate the implementation of health information exchange. TMA submitted a letter supporting the bill and its privatization by 2021. We also asked committee members to add language to ensure physicians and other health care providers would be charged a reasonable certification fee. HB 1680 is companion legislation to Sen. Jane Nelson’s (R-Flower Mound) Senate Bill 203, which was before the Senate Health and Human Services Committee March 4. SB 203 was left pending.
The House Pension Committee took up House Bill 966 by Rep. Myra Crownover (R-Denton). It would create an optional consumer-directed health plan for state employees and their dependents through the Texas Employee Retirement System. TMA supported the bill.
Tomorrow TMA will support bills before these House committees — House Public Health, House Public Education, and House Business and Industry. Stay tuned for the action.
BILL UPDATE
Friday was the last day House and Senate members could file bills and joint resolutions without rules suspension. And as expected, there was a flurry of activity. The final bill and join resolution count is 7,996 bills. Texas House members on Friday filed almost 900 more bills and joint resolutions, totaling 5,545. Senate members filed some 600 more bills, adding up to 2,451.
FEDERAL UPDATE
News reports at least partially confirmed by our Capitol Hill sources say a bipartisan plan by U.S. House of Representatives leaders to repeal Medicare’s Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula is picking up steam. The package reportedly would repeal the SGR, replace it with the proposal U.S. Reps. Michael Burgess, MD (R-Lewisville), and Kevin Brady (R-The Woodlands) worked out in 2013, and extend funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program for two years. A bill to accomplish all of this is expected to be introduced this week. With House Speaker John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi supposedly behind it, the bill stands a good chance in the House. Questions remain on how to pay for the package, how the Senate and White House will respond, and whether anything can happen before physicians’ Medicare payment rates are scheduled to be cut by 22.4 percent on April 1.
PHYSICIAN OF THE DAY
The physician of the day at the Capitol is Oscar Cortes, MD, of McAllen. Dr. Cortes graduated from the Autonomous University of Nuevo León in Nuevo León, Mexico. He is a member of TMA and the Hidalgo-Starr County Medical Society.
WHAT WE ARE READING
A Boehner-Pelosi prescription for Medicare doc fixes ― Politico
Senate Dems Threaten to Oppose Deal on Medicare Doc Fees ― Associated Press
Ahead of Deadline, Legislators File Flurry of Bills ― The Texas Tribune
State Medicaid Investigations Produce Paltry Results ― The Texas Tribune
Rural hospitals, beset by financial problems, struggle to survive ― The Washington Post
Cool reception for new sign-up window under health care law ― Associated Press
