Physician Advocacy

TMA is urging the Texas delegation in Congress to support a massive COVID-19 federal relief package that would help physicians who are struggling financially because of the pandemic.

Changes to Medicaid put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic should be extended to ensure physicians can continue to provide care for Texas’ children and youth. That is the message TMA and several specialty societies sent in a letter this week to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission’s director of Medicaid and CHIP Services.

Like most independent medical practice physicians struggling to stay afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic, Austin pediatrician Brian Temple, MD, had to make a critical choice: reduce salaries and work hours, or lose the staff and pediatric practice he and his partner had built over six years.

The Texas Medical Association and California Medical Association applauded a bipartisan group of U.S. senators for introducing a bill that addresses physician shortages and improves access to care, particularly in children’s hospitals and nonprofit hospitals.

Though most pregnant women who have COVID-19 tend to have mild cases – unless comorbidities are present – obstetrician-gynecologists often face difficult medical and logistical problems when caring for those patients, according to physicians who took part in the Texas Medical Association’s fourth telephone town hall meeting – one devoted specifically to the issues facing OB/Gyns.

More businesses will be allowed to open starting today, including day cares, youth clubs and sports, and beauty salons, Gov. Greg Abbott said at a Capitol press conference.

Yesterday TMA published an excerpt from our newest Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document that covered a particularly vexing question from physicians: What if a patient refuses to wear a face covering and no exception applies? Today we present the entire FAQ, which is intended to provide more clarity on TMB’s minimum standards.

Gov. Greg Abbott’s phased plan to reopen Texas businesses, which starts today, places special emphasis on protecting the elderly and containing the spread of COVID-19 in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities.

As state and federal governments distribute funds and waivers to help health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, Texas pediatricians feel their needs have been unmet.

As physicians and other health care workers risk their health, stretch themselves thin, and deal with uncertain availability of resources to fight COVID-19, the Texas Medical Association is asking Gov. Greg Abbott to restrict litigation stemming from the pandemic.

The TMA COVID-19 Task Force has issued a statement on homemade masks based mostly on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance for both medical professionals and the general public.

As lawmakers continue their work on a federal solution to surprise medical bills, the Texas Medical Association is on guard to make sure patients will be protected – and physicians get a fair shot to get paid properly.

The American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) is obviously intent on picking a fight with physicians. No thanks. We’ll take the high road, fully aware of the dangers of their plans, and stick with what we know is best for our patients: the physician-led health care team.

TMA physician leaders, along with their colleagues from California and the rest of the country, are on Capitol Hill this week, lobbying Congress to toss out a California-inspired provision from a rapidly moving health insurance bill.

I call for our TMA to bring all of these groups together to directly address the issue of the uninsured in Texas, to plan a strategy, and to put it in motion.

The state’s new law allowing arbitration of payment disputes on certain out-of-network care carries concerns for physicians and uncertainty about what it will look like from an enforcement standpoint, a panel told the Texas Medical Association Winter Conference on Saturday morning.

Hospitals and emergency departments should provide specific forms of identification for patients with hearing loss, the Texas Medical Association emphasized to the Texas Hospital Association last year.

The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) has adopted an emergency rule outlining the narrow circumstances when it will be legal for physicians to balance bill patients under the state’s new law that protects patients from surprise medical bills.

Federal lawmakers must pass a bill that would allow states to provide 12 months postpartum coverage to mothers who lose Medicaid coverage two months after giving birth, and would provide a bump in Medicaid matching dollars for those states, medicine and others said in a letter this week.

Texas’ nation-leading uninsured rate will be under the state senate’s microscope in 2020 as part of the interim charges Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has assigned to senate committees.

The bad news keeps coming for Texas’ uninsured rate. Between 2016 and 2018, Texas tied for the second-highest jump in the rate of uninsured children among all 50 states, according to a study released Wednesday by Georgetown University's Center for Children and Families in Washington, D.C.

When President Donald Trump released an executive order earlier this month that would, in part, expand the scope of practice of nonphysician practitioners, the Texas Medical Association vowed to keep physicians at the head of the health care team. On Monday, TMA President David Fleeger, MD, took a major step to do that, urging President Trump and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar to remove that language entirely.