Last week, I attended a hearing
of the Texas House Public Health Committee and dropped a card in
support of HB 772, which would make the state's immunization
registry, ImmTrac, an opt-out registry. This bill is important
legislation for TMA's Texas Public Health Coalition, of which BCMS
is a member.
Other bills heard that also
pertained to medicine included: HB 15, which aims to improve
the quality of care and birth outcomes; HB 740, which would screen
newborns for critical congenital heart diseases in the hospital
setting; and HB 772, which directs HHSC to study the impact of 2011
policy changes that prioritized family planning funds to certain
physicians over others, and the impact these changes had on Texas'
unintended pregnancy rates.
Also last week, Gov. Rick Perry
signed House
Bill 10, the emergency appropriations supplemental
bill that ensures Texas Medicaid can operate through Aug. 30,
2013. To see the news release from the governor's office, click here.
In case you missed the front-page
headline last week in the San
Antonio Express-News, Texas House Speaker Joe Straus
made a big push to lawmakers regarding the topic of Medicaid expansion.
To read the article, click here.
The Texas Medical Association
stands in support of a solution for Texas that fixes the broken
Medicaid system and allows physicians to provide care more
efficiently and more affordably for this vulnerable
population. For comments by TMA President Michael E.
Speer, MD, click here.
For more news stories on
healthcare from around Texas and the United States, including
TMA's top issues and positions on these topics, check out TMA's new news source by
clicking here.
For more information on the 83rd Session or to join
local discussion on this and other topics, consider joining the
BCMS Legislative and Socioeconomics Committee.
Contact Mary
Nava by email at mary.nava@bcms.org.
