With health care affordability shaping up as a defining issue for the 2027 Texas legislative session, the Texas Medical Association told lawmakers that meaningful cost relief for patients is achievable – but only if reforms address the underlying drivers of high prices and don’t simply shift costs from one part of the system to another.
Testifying at a Sept. 1 hearing at the invitation of the Texas House Select Committee on Health Care Affordability, TMA presented six recommendations aimed at reducing administrative burden, making independent physician practices more viable, and expanding lower-cost care options for patients.
Andrew “Jimmy” Widmer, MD, chair of TMA’s Council on Legislation, spoke for physicians. Drawing on previous committee hearings, he said managing costs depends on legislators being willing to address underlying factors such as market consolidation and excessive administrative hurdles such as prior authorization for routinely approved services and duplicative credentialing processes.
“A reform strategy that merely transfers costs from an insurance premium to a deductible or from a health plan to a physician practice is not true cost reduction,” Dr. Widmer cautioned, while assuring legislators that “Texas physicians are committed to being part of the solution.”
Presenting his written testimony, the Frisco internist laid out specific recommendations directed at:
- Improving competition by making independent physician practice more viable;
- Giving Texans more ways to find and finance meaningful coverage; and
- Giving patients a real financial incentive to choose lower-cost care.
Several of TMA’s recommendations would reduce administrative burden for physicians as well as reduce costs for patients. Prior authorization was a case in point.
“Requiring physicians to repeatedly seek permission for routine care that health plans overwhelmingly approve is not utilization management. It is administrative waste,” Dr. Widmer said.
Streamlining credentialing and holding health plans responsible for collecting emergency care cost sharing could deliver similar dual benefits.
“Simpler administration is not merely convenient. It is a cost-containment strategy," Dr. Widmer wrote.
Read more TMA legislative testimonies on issues impacting physicians.
Last Updated On
September 10, 2026
Originally Published On
September 10, 2026
Phil West
Associate Editor
(512) 370-1394
phil.west[at]texmed[dot]org
Phil West is a writer and editor whose publications include the Los Angeles Times, Seattle Times, Austin American-Statesman, and San Antonio Express-News. He earned a BA in journalism from the University of Washington and an MFA from the University of Texas at Austin’s James A. Michener Center for Writers. He lives in Austin with his wife, children, and a trio of free-spirited dogs.