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House Approves Telemedicine Expansion, Medicaid Postpartum Coverage Bills - 04/14/2021

Expanded insurance coverage of telemedicine, one year of postpartum coverage for pregnant women in Medicaid, and improved continuity of care for their children – some of the Texas Medical Association’s biggest priorities – are all halfway to approval from the Texas Legislature.

Eliminating Care Delays and Waste in Prior Auth - 04/13/2021

The House of Medicine brought one strong reason after another to Tuesday’s House Insurance Committee hearing on why lawmakers should support a measure that takes two major steps to reduce physicians’ prior authorization burden.  

Legislative Hotline: Budget Talk; TMA Bills Advance Toward Passage - 04/13/2021

Budget discussions at the Texas Capitol are looking better for the house of medicine than they did at the start of the legislature’s 2021 session. But physicians need to keep letting lawmakers know how important its priorities are for the state’s 2022-23 funding.  

Legislative Hotline: Chasing the “Gold” on Prior Auth; Gender-Affirming Care - 04/12/2021

The Texas Medical Association is sending three physician leaders to Tuesday's House Insurance Committee hearing to address the hassles and care impediments of health plans’ preauthorization requirements.

Medical Billing Tax, Prior Auth, Telemedicine Hit Committee Hearings - 04/09/2021

The Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to take a look today at a bill that would protect billing companies from a tax currently scheduled to begin in October – and protect physicians and patients from any of those costs billing organizations pass on to them.

New Tools to Help Medicine Fight Prior Auth Hassles - 04/09/2021

TMA has created a prior auth social media toolkit that includes messages, sample posts, and articles that you can share on your personal or practice social media channels.

House Speaker’s Health Care Package Includes TMA Priority Bills - 04/08/2021

Several of the Texas Medical Association’s legislative priorities were on display yesterday during a press conference by House Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont) and a coalition of bipartisan lawmakers, including Rep. Tom Oliverson, MD (R-Cypress).  

GME Momentum: Preserving Texas' Steady Progress in Building Residency Positions - 04/08/2021

TMA fights state budget cuts to preserve Texas’ steady progress in building residency positions.

House Passes Measure to Prevent Medical Billing Tax - 04/07/2021

Thanks to tireless work from a physician-legislator, the house of medicine took a huge step Tuesday toward preventing a planned tax on medical billing services that would take money out of patients’ and physicians’ pockets.

Legislative Hotline: Medicaid Continuous Coverage Measures Advance - 04/06/2021

The House Human Services Committee this morning OK’d legislation supporting TMA’s longstanding goals to extend Medicaid coverage for both pregnant women and children.  

April 6: Participate in First Tuesdays at the Capitol - 04/05/2021

The Texas Medical Association needs your voice to amplify medicine’s priorities at the Capitol during the legislative session. The April 6 virtual First Tuesdays at the Capitol is one of two final events to do that before the session ends.

Medicine Trains Its Sight on Scope Expansions - 04/01/2021

A court decision siding with chiropractors is the latest of many scope tests in the legislature and the law.

Another Great Match: Most Texas Medical Graduates Matched With Residency Positions - 04/01/2021

Texas medical students have enjoyed some highly successful Match Weeks in recent years, but 2020 was the best since the Texas Medical Association Council of Medical School Deans began tracking match data in 2014.

Protect and Revitalize Rural Texans’ Health Care - 03/30/2021

Prior to the arrival of the COVID-19 virus, Texas’ rural health care already faced unprecedented financial and demographic pressures. The pandemic now has amplified the crisis.

“They Left Countless Loved Ones Behind:” Senate Honors Physicians Who Died During Pandemic - 03/30/2021

During a special ceremony on the Senate floor, lawmakers adopted a resolution that recognizes Texas’ health care workers who died over the past year fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

GME Funding Bump Granted in Senate Budget Draft - 03/29/2021

After a proposed infusion of nearly $50 million into the latest draft of the Texas Senate’s budget for 2022-23, medicine has new hope for the state giving graduate medical education (GME) the financial support it deserves to keep the physician pipeline open.

TMA Calling on Lawmakers to Strengthen Texas’ Vaccine Requirements - 03/28/2021

Vaccines are one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of infectious diseases, and they help keep people and the economy healthy. That’s the message TMA is sending to lawmakers this session as the COVID-19 pandemic continues and vaccine hesitancy and conscientious exemptions are on the rise.

A Busy Tuesday for Medicine: Dangerous Eye Surgeries, Extended Postpartum Coverage, Prior Authorization - 03/23/2021

Organized medicine sent an army of physicians – including TMA President Diana Fite, MD – to tell senators why a bill giving therapeutic optometrists the authority to perform a lengthy list of surgical procedures is a short-sighted idea.

Scope Expansion Bills Moving Forward. Help TMA Protect Health Care - 03/22/2021

Scope of practice will take center stage this week as the Texas Medical Association keeps its eye on and fights bad legislation that would give non-medical professionals the authority to practice medicine.

TMA to Legislators: Invest in Future Physicians - 03/19/2021

Throughout the Legislative session, TMA is working to maintain funding for programs that will help provide residency training programs in Texas, which will help esnure that future physicians who study here can train here – which in turn will likely lead them to practice here.

Time to Strengthen – Not Weaken – the Advance Directives Act - 03/18/2021

TMA is working in support of bills that would create more clarity around do-not-resuscitate (DNR) order laws and would allow for patients and their families to have a greater understanding of the medical ethics-committee process.

86th Texas Legislature Letters and Testimonies - 03/18/2021

During this legislative session, TMA councils and committees are locking down and promoting health care policies to ensure Texas patients have access to affordable and high quality health care. Here are TMA’s testimonies, comments, and letters to state lawmakers.

Connecting Texas: TMA Backs Expanded Broadband Bill - 03/17/2021

TMA testified today in support of a bill to expand broadband access in Texas – thereby expanding the state’s telemedicine capabilities. Telemedicine has become “a very important tool in the physician toolbox to take care of patients,” as well as an important tool to extend care to underserved areas of the state, TMA said.

Legislative Hotline: TMA Urges Committee to Prevent Medical Billing Tax - 03/15/2021

The Texas Medical Association went to work today in hopes of torpedoing a state medical billing tax currently scheduled to take effect Oct. 1.

Take Your Leadership Skills Even Higher With CME From TMA - 03/12/2021

The Texas Medical Association is here to help you be an even more effective leader through variety of on-demand webinars, podcasts, and online courses, all available in the Texas Medical Association Education Center.