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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Did You Receive an Email Requiring Registration to the State’s PMP? - 02/28/2024

TMA can confirm that an email sent Friday afternoon asking physicians to register for a PMP Aware account are indeed legitimate; however, there is no deadline to register.

Cannabidiol Takes a Big Step Toward Respectability - 01/25/2024

In September, the DEA issued an order listing all drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that contain cannabidiol but no more than 0.1 percent of the chief psychoactive agent in cannabis as Schedule V drugs — those with the least potential for abuse. So far, Epidiolex is the only medication that fits that description.

Medicare Part B Inflation Rebate Takes Effect, Lowering Copays - 06/27/2023

A new federal law requires drug companies to rebate Medicare if they raise certain drug prices higher than the rate of inflation, which has translated into lower copays for some Medicare patients.

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.

Pharmacy Rule Opens Door to Improve Access to Low-Cost Medications - 02/06/2023

Given the high cost of medications, pharmacies should be sharing low-cost options with patients and allowing them to transfer their prescriptions as needed – without imposing additional administrative hassles on physician practices.

Counterfeit Medications Proliferate in Patient Care – and They’re Not Just Illicit Opioids - 01/31/2023

Counterfeit medications are a growing problem that can undermine medical treatment, and all physicians can help prevent their spread by asking patients simple questions.

Nationwide Adderall Shortage Expected to Last Through 2022 - 10/31/2022

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expects a nationwide shortage of Adderall and Adderall IR to extend through the end of the year, following manufacturing delays by the largest producer of Adderall in the country, Teva Pharmaceuticals LLC.

Are You Ready for Changes to Opioid Prescribing in Texas? - 10/14/2022

Beginning Sept. 1, all prescribers will be required to set up an account with the state’s prescription monitoring program, known as PMP Aware. The Texas State Board of Pharmacy will also begin issuing new official prescription forms that include advanced security features designed to help deter fraud.

Commentary: Hey Texas, Time to Stop Using the Word Provider! - 08/02/2021

The growing unwillingness to highlight the differences in training, education, and expertise between physicians and other health care professionals constitutes an increasing danger to not only our profession but also to patients, our health care system, and society as a whole. Patients deserve to know who is rendering their care. It is our hope that every physician reading this article will think and act in some way to speak up against the “provider” label and help reclaim the rightful title. Our profession is thousands of years old, so let’s not be the generation that destroys its own name. For the sake of those who follow in our footsteps, let’s take a stand together today.

Biden Executive Order Likely to Prompt Rulemaking on Noncompetes - 07/19/2021

Directly and indirectly, the Biden administration’s wide-ranging Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy features myriad implications for health care and physician practices. The executive order, issued earlier this month, takes aim at hospital and insurance market consolidation, noncompete agreements, lack of competition among drug manufacturers, and exorbitant costs of prescription drugs and hearing aids.

Some Clarity, Some Fog: AG Opines on Physician-Optometrist Relationship - 07/01/2020

An opinion by the Texas attorney general will keep the Texas Optometry Board (TOB) from exerting influence over the practice of medicine – to a certain point.

PMP Checks Won’t Be Necessary for In-Facility Medications, TMB Says - 02/21/2020

Thanks to Texas Medical Association advocacy, the Texas Medical Boardhas refocused its guidance on when physicians will be required to check the Texas Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP) before prescribing certain medications starting March 1.

CRNAs Can’t Administer Anesthesia Unless Physician Delegates It, AG Rules - 09/12/2019

The state attorney general has agreed with the Texas Medical Association in an official opinion that keeps certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) from administering anesthesia without physician delegation.

Dispensing Drugs From a Medical Practice - 08/31/2017

Can a physician dispense prescription drugs (not samples) that the patient would self-administer at home? Can a physician purchase medications from a pharmacy or a drug company and sell them to his or her patients?

Drug Wastage Modifier Now Required - 01/13/2017

Coding change reminder: For Medicare claims, use modifier JW when you open a single-use package or vial of a drug but don’t administer the entire dose or quantity and discard what’s left. See examples and FAQs.

Board Pulls Plan for Pharmacists to Check Diagnoses - 02/13/2014

The Texas State Board of Pharmacy (TSBP) quickly killed a proposal that would have required pharmacists to contact the prescribing physician for each new patient with a prescription for a controlled substance. The decision came at a crowded TSBP meeting Feb. 11, 2014. "Another bureaucratic obstacle to medical practice has been stopped," said TMA General Counsel Donald "Rocky" Wilcox.