• Standing Up for You With State Agencies

    From the Texas Department of Insurance and the Texas Medical Board to the Health and Human Services Commission and the Higher Education Coordinating Board, state agencies have a tremendous amount of power to control physicians' practices. By watching what the agencies are doing, commenting on rules they propose to implement new laws, or fighting those rules in court, TMA leads the battle for physicians and their patients.

    Someone has to watch the agencies -- and here's where you can watch the watchers.

  • Our Latest Agency Actions for You

    • CMS to Enforce Payment Transparency Law
      The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will explain the provisions of the National Physician Payment Transparency Act, also known as the Open Payments Act or Sunshine Act, in a teleconference at 1:30 pm CDT on Wednesday, May 22. The act is part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and requires manufacturers of drugs, medical devices, and biologicals that participate in federal health care programs to annually report payments and items of value they give physicians and teaching hospitals.
    • State May Raise Payments to Medicaid HMOs
      Texas Medical Association President Michael E. Speer, MD, says that any new money going to Medicaid HMOs should go to patient care.
    • TMA Wins Choosing Wisely Grant
      TMA, partnering with the TMA Foundation, is among 21 state and specialty medical societies and regional health collaboratives that won grants from the ABIM Foundation to advance the Choosing Wisely campaign. Support for the grant program comes from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
    • You, TMB, and TMA
      A strong and fair Texas Medical Board (TMB) protects your patients, upholds high ethical and professional standards for physicians, helps to preserve Texas’ critical 2003 health care tort reforms, and maintains the professional image of all Texas physicians. Unfortunately, TMB has frequently lacked the resources to do its job right. As a result, obtaining a license took far too long, and egregious cases of physician misconduct went unaddressed. Some physicians complained they were the victims of unfair prosecution for minor violations or that the TMB disciplinary hearings were neither fair nor impartial.
    • Medicare Sequester Fee Cut Begins April 1
      Medicare will cut physician payments for fee-for-service claims with dates of service on or after April 1 by 2 percent, thanks to the failure of Congress and President Obama to avoid across-the-board federal spending reductions required by the federal budget sequestration that took effect March 1.