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Exceptional Circumstances: TMA Advocates “Legislative Clarity” Amid State Abortion Bans - 03/05/2024

TMA advocates “legislative clarity” amid state abortion bans.


RICO Settlements: TMA's Leadership Against Payer Abuses Resulted in Relief, Reform - 12/04/2023

Back in 2001, the Texas Medical Association and the other plaintiffs alleged the nation’s major health plans had conspired to delay and reduce payments to clinicians and hospitals; the resulting lawsuits, brought under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), represented a watershed moment in TMA history.


TMA Wins Two More Surprise Billing Lawsuits; CMS Suspends Arbitrations - 10/03/2023

Marking a fourth victory for the Texas Medical Association in as many lawsuits, a court on Aug. 24 struck down a large portion of the regulations setting forth a methodology insurers use to calculate the qualifying payment amount, or QPA, used in surprise-billing disputes – part of a series of federal rules TMA has long argued skew the arbitration process in insurers’ favor.


Access to Care Improves After 20 Years of Medical Liability Reform - 09/13/2023

This week marks two decades since Texas voters approved a constitutional amendment to stop what some physicians and patients called a crisis situation. They say the effort ensured patients have greater access to doctors’ care.


The Top 5 Things That Get Physicians Sued - 08/23/2023

There are some obvious reasons physicians could face a medical liability lawsuit — surgical errors, misdiagnosis, and medication errors are some of the most common. But other issues related to communication, documentation, and staff conduct, also increase your legal risk.


TMA Opposes Attempts to Expand Audiologists’ Scope - 07/17/2023

Proposed federal laws that would give audiologists unlimited access to Medicare patients without a physician referral could lead to lasting, and expensive, harm to patients, medicine once again told U.S. Senate and House leadership this week.


Proposal Would Maintain Unauthorized Scope for Chiropractors - 07/17/2023

The Texas Medical Association strongly opposes proposed new state rules that would continue to allow chiropractors to practice acupuncture and to perform other procedures and services outside the scope of practice for chiropractic.


Where Does Immunity for Government-Employed Physicians End? - 07/17/2023

The Texas Medical Association is fighting to ensure the Texas Supreme Court does not disrupt liability protections for physicians who are employed by a state medical school or other government entity.


Fighting Back: Practice Wins Court Battle Over Defamatory Online Reviews - 06/20/2023

One practice’s recent legal battle epitomizes physicians’ worst nightmares when it comes to online reviews. Here’s an extreme but glaring real world example, straight from the documents in a lawsuit that Austin Eye first filed in October 2017 over


Physician-Led Results: Medical Liability Reforms - 06/20/2023

TMA beat back bills threatening to widen physicians’ liability exposure, while strengthening the Texas Medical Board, which plays a critical role in both the oversight and licensure of physicians.


Removing Texas Physicians From the Health Care Team Would be Harmful, Costly - 05/04/2023

Op-ed by Texas Medical Association (TMA) President Gary W. Floyd, MD, and Board of Trustees Chair G. Ray Callas, MD, about legislation proposing to give advanced practice registered nurses and other providers independent practice authority without physician supervision.


Help TMA Fight Independent Practice For APRNs - 05/02/2023

Please contact your state lawmakers today through the new TMA Grassroots Action Center. Let them know you support physician-led, team-based care. Tell them how much you learned in your years of medical school, residency, and beyond. Tell them why APRNs are NOT the answer to Texas’ physician shortage. Ask them to say “No” to the APRNs and to help the Texas Medical Association stop them.


Medicine Blasts Scope Attacks at the Texas Legislature - 04/24/2023

Nonphysician practitioners (NPPs) are redoubling their efforts on behalf of scope-of-practice expansion this session, including a pair of bills that seek full independent practice authority for advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs). But the Texas Medical Association is pushing back with equal force, armed with a growing body of research that shows removing physician oversight of the health care team undermines patient safety and health care cost containment.


TMA Decries Scope Bills That Would Allow Nurses to Practice Independently - 04/24/2023

Just three days before the bill-filing deadline, state lawmakers filed a pair of bills that would allow advanced practice registered nurses to practice independently.


TMA’s “Battle This Session” Begins: Fighting Scope Creep - 03/16/2023

As expected, several scope-of-practice expansion attempts have crept their way into the more than 800 bills the Texas Medical Association is already tracking so far this legislative session, underscoring why fighting scope creep is medicine’s top priority.


Bills Threaten Medical Liability Reforms - 02/15/2023

At least two bills have the Texas Medical Association on notice for threats that aim to weaken Texas’ landmark 2003 medical liability reforms meant to protect access to care and patient safety.


Court Considers Attack on Noneconomic Damages Cap - 02/09/2023

The bedrock of the medicine-backed 2003 tort reform legislation in Texas was a $250,000 cap on noneconomic damages in medical negligence lawsuits, a balance that the Texas Medical Association helped lawmakers strike between compensating injured patients and keeping physicians out of bankruptcy.


Legislative Priority #1: Scope of Practice Encroachments, Graduate Medical Education Funding - 01/06/2023

Goal Protect independent medical diagnosing, treatment, and prescribing as the practice of medicine address workforce shortages in a way that ensures all patients have access to the same standard of care and keeps pace with Texas’ outsized population


TMA Joins Fight Against Scope Creep in “Sweeping” Federal Legislation - 11/21/2022

Organized medicine is banding together to oppose a piece of federal legislation that advocates say would expand the scope of practice for nonphysician practitioners (NPPs) like nurse practitioners and physician assistants at the expense of Medicare and Medicaid patients.


Graphic Warnings on Cigarette Packs Face Ongoing Legal Challenge - 09/09/2022

A court order – once again – has upheld enforcement of the Food and Drug Administration’s rule that cigarette packs must contain more colorful and graphic health warnings. The new deadline for implementing the rule, per the court order, is Oct. 6, 2023.


Picking the Right Battles: TMA Stands Up for Medicine in the Courts - 06/29/2022

When a big point of legal contention arises – “big” meaning impactful for Texas physicians and their patients – the Texas Medical Association responds big. That’s been the case for decades, including in the courts. 


Dulling the Pain of Future Damages: High Court Ruling Addresses Periodic Payments - 05/31/2022

Texas Supreme Court decision carries new implications for periodic payment of future medical expenses.


Legal Legacies: TMA General Counsel Rocky Wilcox Retires After 42 Years of Service - 05/01/2022

After nearly five decades of service to organized medicine, Rocky Wilcox, the man behind TMA’s storied history of advocating for physicians and their patients through the legal and legislative systems is retiring. But the legacy he leaves behind has put physicians in Texas – even across the nation – on solid legal ground.


Study: Nonphysician Practitioners “Should Not Function Independently” - 04/21/2022

The recent experience of a Mississippi clinic adds another piece of evidence to support one of TMA’s enduring philosophies: Health care teams should be physician-led. The clinic analyzed how both physicians and nonphysician practitioners performed in a primary care role.  


TMA Opposes Proposed Title Change for Physician Assistants - 03/08/2022

The American Academy of PAs (AAPA) passed new policy last week changing the profession’s official title to “physician associate” rather than the traditional “physician assistant” (PA).