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New TMA Policies Strive to Bolster Physician Workforce - 05/21/2025

Attempting to fix Texas’ maternal care deserts and other physician workforce deficits, the House of Delegates voted in support of expanded physician training opportunities and statewide initiatives, particularly focused on rural areas.

Record Licensure Numbers Show Steady Workforce Progress - 04/23/2025

Texas continues to expand the physician workforce at a faster rate than the state’s population, continuing a 15-year streak, but gaps remain. To drive in-state growth, TMA continues to advocate for bolstering the state’s residency and fellowship programs.

Advancing Primary Care: Medicare Rolls Out New Payment Codes for Treating Chronic Conditions - 03/04/2025

Though the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has introduced another acronym into the Medicare mix, some physicians express optimism this particular one could help practices stay viable.   For Greg Fuller,

Straight Shooter: Incoming TMA President Ray Callas, MD, Aims for Practice Protections, Membership Gains - 02/27/2025

Incoming Texas Medical Association President Ray Callas, MD, an anesthesiologist from Beaumont, cites as his top priorities preventing scope-of-practice creep, defending physician autonomy, and bolstering the TMA's membership.

Border Health Conference Highlights Need for Funding, Residency Programs - 10/17/2024

Physicians, lawmakers, city leaders, and others came together at the Texas Medical Association’s Border Health Conference in Laredo to find solutions to the most pressing issues affecting physicians and patients on the Texas-Mexico border.

Enjoying Employment: Texas Physicians Trend Away from Independent Practice - 08/14/2024

As the share of Texas physicians trend away from independent practice, TMA members spell out the benefits of employment.

Committee on Independent Physician Practice Announces Members - 06/21/2024

After recognizing the dire needs of private practice physicians, Texas Medical Association leaders have appointed the members of its inaugural Committee on Independent Physician Practice with broad representation.

Record Number of Doctors Arriving to Care for Texas Patients - 06/20/2024

For every Texan seeking medical care, a record – and increasing – number of physicians is available to respond. Texas’ physician workforce is growing at a record pace, according to new data. For the first time in three decades, the ratio of patient-care physicians for every 100,000 people has increased for 10 straight years (2009-2019).

TMA Presses Congress to Preserve Independent Practice Viability - 06/13/2024

Administrative hassle, cyberattacks, and other threats to physician practice viability have caught the attention of federal lawmakers, with the Texas Medical Association weighing in heavily on the attendant impacts on physician practices following a May 23 hearing, “The Collapse of Private Practice: Examining the Challenges Facing Independent Medicine.”

The Waco Way: How This Addiction Medicine Specialist Targets Primary Care Challenges - 05/29/2024

How one addiction medicine specialist turned passion into practicality to target behavioral health challenges in primary care.

New APM Committee Accepting Nominations - 05/22/2024

Recognizing the fast-moving shift to value-based care and the need for physician guidance in that transition, the TMA House of Delegates approved a new standing Committee on Alternative Payment Models (APMs) at TexMed 2024. TMA leaders are in the process of appointing participants to the nine-member body with regional representation of varying practice sizes, types, and specialties. Read more.

New TMA Policies Aim to Strengthen Physician Workforce Pipeline - 05/14/2024

Among others, top new policies direct TMA to study ways to assist unmatched medical graduates and to advocate for increased per-resident funding to offset medical schools’ teaching costs – a rate that has not budged since 2008. Read more.

TMA House Prioritizes Noncompetes, Physician Payment Reform - 05/13/2024

The TMA House of Delegates adopted several policies intended to alleviate economic pressure on physician practices. Those include directing the association to advocate for more statutory limitations on noncompete agreements in employment contracts and protections from health plans’ problematic payment policies. Read more.

Innovation for Every Age: Texas Primary Care Physicians Improve Access for Older Patients - 05/06/2024

Texas' population is aging, highlighting the importance of access to high-quality, coordinated primary care that bridges complex systems, various clinicians, and concurrent chronic conditions.

Coming Up Short: TMA Workforce Report Underscores Access Challenges, Advocacy Wins - 05/06/2024

While the study highlights positive growth facilitated by TMA’s ongoing advocacy, it shows shortages that mirror those across the health care professional workforce and that are particularly entrenched in rural areas; it also reveals challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and by other factors, economic or otherwise, that have complicated Texas' practice environment and impacted recruitment.

CMS Finalizes 2025 Medicare Advantage Payment Rates - 04/16/2024

Despite a 0.16% reduction in base pay rate, Medicare Advantage plans are projected to see a 3.7% growth in revenue in 2025 thanks to a rising average patient risk score.

CMS to Debut Primary Care Payment Model - 04/10/2024

In an effort to address financial barriers to accountable care organizations’ provision of primary care services, Medicare will test a new value-based payment model for approximately 130 starting in 2025 and running through 2029.

TMA Moment in Time: SGR Repeal - 04/09/2024

The historic victory has roots in TMA advocacy and may provide a playbook for future Medicare reform.

Medicare Advantage – and Disadvantage: Program Enrollment Grows Amid Physician Concerns - 04/03/2024

Despite its growing popularity among Medicare patients, Medicare Advantage is divisive among physicians.

TMA Scholarship Cultivates a Diverse Workforce; Apply by May 31 - 03/25/2024

Are you sharing in the excitement of someone who's just been accepted to medical school?

Middle Ground: Medicare Offers Options Amid Shift to Value-Based Care - 03/05/2024

Physicians are divided on the issue of value-based care, but, with Medicare forging ahead, the Texas Medical Association is focused on monitoring the development of alternative payment models, educating members about their options, and advocating for physician protections.

Fix Medicare Now: 2024 Fee Schedule Solidifies Cut, Heightens Calls for Reform - 03/05/2024

This latest cut stems from the 2024 Medicare physician fee schedule and Congressional inaction, both of which further erode physician payment, practice viability, and patient access to care.

Medicine’s MIPS Win: 2024 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Stabilizes Program - 03/05/2024

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services yielded to the Texas Medical Association’s concerns about its proposal and the impact of constant changes to MIPS on its participants.

Survey: APM Participation Grows, But Fee-For-Service Still Dominates - 01/24/2024

Physicians increasingly report participating in an accountable care organization or other alternative payment model, but fee-for-service payments still make up the bulk of practice revenue, continuing a yearslong trend.

Report Aims to Catalyze Texas Medicaid’s Shift to Value-Based Care - 11/02/2023

A new report aims to accelerate Texas Medicaid’s transition from a fee-for-service payment model to a value-based one, a shift that has been underway for 25 years.