Overview
TMA's theme for the 2005 Texas Legislature was "In Defense of
Medicine." This session was unlike most sessions before it. Instead
of trying to get legislation passed, TMA was defending your
practice against hundreds of potential landmines: taxation of
health care services, broadening of allied health practitioners'
scope of practice, restrictions on physician ownership in health
care facilities, more funding cuts for the state's health care
safety net, the imploding workers' compensation system, the
weakening public health infrastructure, and rollbacks of
investments in medical education. Those are just a few of the
issues that found TMA playing defense for Texas medicine. With the
notable exception of the Medicaid Integrated Care Management
legislation and Texas State Board of Medical Examiners (TSBME)
sunset bill, TMA's primary objective for 2005 was to kill bills,
not pass them.
This compendium describes all the major subject issues that TMA
tracked and the accomplishments - or close calls - of each. TMA
partnered with specialty and county medical societies to defeat
hundreds of dangerous bills and amendments. Additionally, the
association worked to amend bills that had potential but contained
provisions harmful to patient care or physician practice viability.
Some bills came closer to passing than medicine preferred, those
are the "close calls" described below by subject area. "Near
misses" are bills TMA supported but did not cross the finish
line.
By session's end, medicine largely ended up unscathed - a
remarkable accomplishment given the number of hazards traversed
from January until May 30. However, many of the issues are likely
to reemerge over the next 18 months, either as legislative studies
during the interim or as refiled legislation for the 2007 Texas
Legislature.
The TMA Board of Trustees, Council on Legislation, and policy
components already are conducting a post-session analysis to better
understand the issues medicine will face in 2007. The action plan
will include:
- Active engagement of grassroots physicians in local
meetings and educational forums with legislators;
- Participation in the election cycle through TEXPAC, TMA's
political action committee;
- Assessment of nascent physician issues through member
surveys; and
- Participation in legislative interim studies, and formation
of physician work groups to develop legislative recommendations
on key issues facing patients and physicians.
Table of Contents
Last Updated On
April 02, 2012
Originally Published On
March 23, 2010