Select Committee on Medicaid, CHIP and the Uninsured reports to the TMA Council on Socioeconomics and Council on Legislation. Members of the committee will be drawn from TMA councils and committees with an interest in the committee’s charges so as to coordinate TMA policy on Medicaid and indigent care issues. Members also will be drawn from county medical and state specialty societies.

The committee is charged with the following:

• Develop TMA policy relating to Medicaid, CHIP, and coverage for the uninsured.

• Research and develop policy recommendations to improve the availability and affordability of health insurance in the private sector.

• Identify and develop TMA regulatory and legislative policy relating to Medicaid, CHIP, and uninsured, including efforts to reduce the administrative complexity or “hassle factor” of participating in public programs.

• Monitor state and federal regulatory and legislative issues pertaining to these programs as well as issues pertaining to safety net providers and systems.

• Coordinate and collaborate with appropriate state agency officials to promote the efficient and sensible implementation of legislation relating to Medicaid, CHIP and the uninsured and develop TMA positions and/or policy as appropriate. The committee also should track the impact of legislative and budget decisions on the Medicaid physician network, patient access to services, and quality of care.

• Collaborate, as appropriate, with provider associations, consumer groups, Medicaid and CHIP health plans, and external research organizations on studies relating to Medicaid and other publicly financed health care programs.

• Assist the Association in its efforts to promote to employers, local governmental officials, state policy makers, and the public the economic value of Medicaid and CHIP to communities and the state generally as well as the interdependence of Medicaid and CHIP and other public and private payers.

• Collaborate with county medical societies to track and assess innovative health coverage options, such as three-share initiatives, Project Access, and others.

Border Health Caucus:The mission of the Border Health Caucus is to ensure that Texans have access to care, and to communicate challenges that physicians face along the border. The BHC can help protect and increase access through education of elected officials, agency staff, and stakeholders in health care.