First Legislative Win: Senate Sends Medical Billing Tax Fix to Governor’s Desk
By Joey Berlin

May_Runoff

A priority bill for the house of medicine has completed its journey through both chambers of the Texas Legislature.

Now, the state’s pending tax on medical billing services is just one signature from Gov. Greg Abbott away from disappearing – which would keep physicians from paying passed-down costs from outsourced medical billing companies.

The Senate on Monday signed off on House Bill 1445 – by Rep. Tom Oliverson, MD (R-Cypress) – which would classify outsourced medical billing as being outside the realm of insurance services. That would nullify the medical billing tax scheduled to take effect Oct. 1.

The planned tax came as a result of outside pressure on the state comptroller’s office to classify billing companies’ preparation of a medical claim as claims adjustment or processing, which, as insurance services, would subject those companies to a tax of up 8.25% for those services. Patients and physicians would be likely to pay increased costs as a result.

TMA successfully lobbied twice to delay the tax – eventually pushing the implementation date until after session – and received guidance from the comptroller’s office on legislation that would prevent the tax from taking effect.

HB 1445 passed the House on April 6 with a record vote of 147-0. It passed the Senate on Monday by another unanimous vote, 31-0.

Medicine strongly advocated for HB 1445 when the House Ways & Means Committee took it up last month. Tyler obstetrician-gynecologist Yasser Zeid, MD, told the committee that many small practices rely on third-party billing services because they don’t have the resources to prepare and submit their claims in-house.

Also this week … 

On Wednesday, TMA will testify in the House Public Health Committee in support of House Bill 4272 by Rep. Stephanie Klick (R-Fort Worth), a measure to  address Texas’ current immunization registry, ImmTrac2, which is burdensome for both patients and immunizers.

Passing HB 4272 not only would improve the registry’s functionality, but also would streamline current efforts to vaccinate as many Texans as possible in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

TMA believes Texas must maintain vital disaster vaccination records instead of arbitrarily destroying them without notifying the patient. So HB 4272 also would require COVID-19 immunization information to be kept in ImmTrac2 for at least seven years, while requiring the state to create a process to obtain potential consent for the records to stay in the registry longer. To get consent to keep a person’s records in ImmTrac2 beyond the seven-year expiration date, the Texas Department of State Health Services would have to make at least two attempts to contact the person or the person’s representative (by telephone, email, or snail mail).

Dallas pediatrician Joseph Schneider, MD, chair of TMA’s Committee on Health Information Technology, is currently slated to testify for TMA on HB 4272.

TMA also plans to support a wide range of legislation up for committee hearings this week. Among those bills:

  • House Bill 5 by Rep. Trent Ashby (R-Lufkin) to expand broadband access across the state, which has passed its parent chamber and is scheduled to be heard Wednesday in the Senate Transportation Committee.
  • House Bill 1524 by Rep. Eddie Lucio III (D-Brownsville), which would allow physicians the ability to delegate the prescribing or ordering of Schedule II controlled substances to advanced practice registered nurses and physician assistants. That choice, as with any delegated prescribing authority, would remain solely with the physician. The bill is scheduled for Wednesday in House Public Health.
  • House Bill 2834 by Rep. Greg Bonnen, MD (R-Friendswood) to require payment for Medicaid behavioral health services that are classified as collaborative care. That bill is scheduled for a hearing Tuesday in the House Human Services Committee. HB 2834 is a companion measure to Senate Bill 672 by Sen. Dawn Buckingham, MD (R-Lakeway), which already passed the Senate.

Among bills up for a hearing this week that TMA will oppose:

  • House Bill 2856 by Rep. Valoree Swanson (R-Spring), would prohibit physicians in the Medicaid and CHIP programs from refusing to treat a Medicaid or CHIP participant for not being immunized “for a particular infection or communicable disease.” HB 2856 is scheduled for Wednesday’s House Public Health Committee hearing. The Texas Pediatric Society is expected to testify in opposition to the bill.
  • Senate BIll 1489 by Sen. Bob Hall (R-Edgewood) would require health care facilities that test for COVID-19 to give the people who are tested a state-created brochure on prevention and treatment of the disease. It’s scheduled for a hearing Wednesday in the Senate Health & Human Services Committee. The brochure would have to contain information on “the importance of therapeutic prevention of COVID-19, including the use of nutraceuticals, the use of prescription medications, and the benefits and risks of receiving a vaccination.” TMA believes the legislation is a barrier to vaccinations, that its requirements for the brochure are vague, and that it represents a needless mandate on physicians. 

Just one First Tuesdays left 

This year’s final virtual First Tuesdays at the Capitol is just two weeks away, on May 4. By then, only 27 days will remain in this session. Register for free today to get an update from TMA’s lobby team on what issues and bills are still in play, and what you can do to help in the final stretch before the legislature adjourns.

Easy ways to get involved in TMA advocacy 

Your participation is a vital component of our legislative success. Join our advocacy efforts today. Besides taking part in First Tuesdays, here are some other ways you can help.

Stay up to date on bills TMA is following closely. And take advantage of other opportunities to get involved with our advocacy efforts.

 

Last Updated On

April 20, 2021

Originally Published On

April 19, 2021

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