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HHSC Extends Medicaid Revalidation Another Six Months - 06/12/2025

The state is providing physicians with additional time to take a key step in caring for Medicaid patients. It’s also providing a reentry pathway for physicians disenrolled last year.

Texas Medicaid Delays Online Enrolling and Credentialing Integration - 05/22/2025

In April, the Texas Medicaid & Health Partnership had announced physicians could enroll and get credentialed in a one-stop, two-step process. The pause means the status quo remains for now.

Chiropractic Scope Expansion Proposed Under Federal Legislation - 05/21/2025

Federal legislation proposes changing the definition of “physician” to include chiropractors. The American Medical Association, TMA, and dozens of other medical organizations call on Congress to nix it, spotlighting patient safety risk and possible increased Medicare costs.

‘If That’s Not Expanding Scope, I Don’t Know What Is’: Bill Grants Scope Shortcut to Rural APRNs - 05/06/2025

With patient safety on the line, TMA physicians showed up in droves in opposition to Senate Bill 3055, which would give certain nurse practitioners independent practice in rural areas. Instead, physicians turned lawmakers’ attention to a new and immediate solution to Texas’ rural access shortages advancing through the legislature: Senate Bill 2695.

Medicaid Funding Streams Crucial in State, Federal Advocacy Discussions - 04/17/2025

In the chance the federal government moves forward with proposed cuts that could negatively impact Medicaid, TMA is here to help Texas physicians understand and navigate Medicaid’s funding complexities. Read more.

TMA’s Top Legislative Priorities: Enhance Medicaid Payments and Coverage - 04/17/2025

TMA will work to enhance Medicaid payments and coverage this legislative session

TMA Signs Letter Calling for Congress to Protect Medicaid Funding - 04/17/2025

As the U.S. House of Representatives considers $880 billion in cuts from the committee overseeing Medicaid, TMA and all 50 state medical societies detailed the impacts such a cut would make to patient care and practice viability.

Medicine Whelms Nurse Scope Expansion Bill - 04/15/2025

Physicians from across the state made the trek to the Capitol to testify that House Bill 3974 would dismantle Texas’ longstanding physician-led care model and with it, patient safety. TMA and the legislature remain committed to quality solutions to the state’s access-to-care challenges.

TMA Mobilizes Against Nurse Scope Expansion Bill - 04/11/2025

House Bill 3794 is among dozens of bills filed this session that chip away at Texas’ scope of practice laws. While for the most part TMA has stopped such bills in their tracks, by contrast, HB 3794 would open what TMA President G. Ray Callas, MD, strongly warned is a “floodgate” for independent practice by advanced practice registered nurses. TMA urges physicians to act to stop the bill.

Webinar: Review Medicaid Revalidation Extension, Retroactive Enrollment - 01/30/2025

The state’s Medicaid administrator is hosting a series of informational webinars to provide details for physicians eligible for a deadline extension, as well as for those who may qualify for backdated validation after being disenrolled.

TMA’s Top Legislative Priorities: Guarding Against Scope of Practice Expansion - 01/06/2025

TMA is working to grow the physician workforce and preserve physician-led health care in Texas.

HHSC Extends Medicaid PEMS Revalidation in Response to TMA Letter - 12/06/2024

By demonstrating how the Texas Health and Human Services Commission’s (HHSC’s) Medicaid enrollment and revalidation process is “time-consuming, cumbersome and confusing,” TMA has helped secure an extension for physicians with upcoming revalidation dates. HHSC has also added new reporting requirements.

AMA Board Chair Calls on Texas to Help Secure Medicare Fix, Restore Physician Autonomy - 12/04/2024

Attendees of Texas Medical Association’s second Business of Medicine Conference heard a host of economic hurdles to physicians, but underscoring them all is the decades-long trend of decreasing Medicare physician payment, according to the American Medical Association’s Board of Trustees Chair Michael Suk, MD.

AMA President-Elect Acclaims TMA Advocacy for Scope, Prior Auth Wins - 12/04/2024

Texas physicians’ advocacy accomplishments both in the state and alongside the American Medical Association earned praise from AMA’s president-elect at the Texas Medical Association’s Leadership Summit on Jan. 27.

TMA Letter Calls Out HHSC Over Medicaid Payment Rates - 11/25/2024

TMA responded to the state’s latest proposed Medicaid rates, issuing a letter calling out the lack of an inflationary adjustment, bringing along anesthesiologists and oncologists who will specifically be affected. Read more.

Senate Committee Tackles Scope of Practice in Access-to-Care Hearing - 11/18/2024

In a hearing packed with representatives from medicine, nursing, pharmacy, behavioral health, licensing boards, and academia, the Senate Health and Human Services Committee tackled Texas’ health care workforce shortages with the Texas Medical Association delivering its message loud and clear: Expanding scope of practice is not the answer to helping patients in rural and underserved areas.

First Steps: TMA Secures Medicaid Physician Rate Increases With Hopes for Momentum - 11/18/2024

TMA helped secure the first Medicaid physician rate increases in decades in hopes it will build momentum for future gains.

Physicians Must Validate Email to Avoid Medicaid Disenrollment, Payment Delays - 05/29/2024

Texas physicians who care for Medicaid patients should confirm their email address is valid in the Texas Medicaid and Healthcare Partnership’s Provider Enrollment Management System to ensure effective communication and timely payments from the state Medicaid administrator.

Feds Extend Marketplace Special Enrollment Amid Medicaid Unwinding - 04/19/2024

Texas patients who have been disenrolled from Medicaid in the wake of the COVID-19 public health emergency now have more time to find alternative coverage on the federal marketplace. The extension could mitigate a coverage cliff about which the Texas Medical Association has long raised concerns.

Postpartum Coverage Extension Brings Payment Complexities - 04/05/2024

As the 12-month postpartum coverage Texas legislature approved took effect March 1, physicians and their practice staff should take note of subsequent payment complexities, Texas Medical Association experts caution.

Medicaid, CHIP Postpartum Coverage Extension Will Take Effect March 1 - 02/08/2024

After a multi-session advocacy effort by the Texas Medical Association, specialty societies, and women’s health advocates, Texans who are enrolled in Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program and who are pregnant or become pregnant will see their postpartum coverage automatically extended starting March 1.

Spending Growth Rate for Physician Services Slows - 01/09/2024

Although spending on physician and clinical services increased 2.7% year-over-year to $884.9 billion in 2022, the spending growth rate fell, due in part to a slowdown in the use of such services and in physician prices. In comparison, spending on physicians and clinical services grew 5.3% in 2021.

On the Mend: Maternal Care Wins Encourage Better Outcomes in Texas - 11/05/2023

Twelve months of postpartum coverage and other maternal wins encourage physicians for better outcomes.

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.

Coming Unwound: Mass Disenrollments Hurt Patients and Physicians Alike - 11/02/2023

The end of continuous Medicaid eligibility has led to mass disenrollments, hurting patients and physicians alike.