Stories from Texas Medicine, August 2023

Patient Care Protected: TMA Secured Big Legislative Wins With a New Strategy - 01/11/2024

Guided by a set of priorities and girded by grassroots physician advocacy, the Texas Medical Association entered the 2023 legislative session with a laser focused approach and came out hitting targets in every area of medicine’s agenda.

All You Need to Do Is RSVP: Alliance Leader Opens Invitation to Medical Advocacy - 10/26/2023

TMA Alliance leader Jenny Shepherd’s open invitation to medical advocacy is an award-winning approach

All You Need to Do Is RSVP: TMA Alliance Leader's Open Invitation - 10/26/2023

TMA Alliance Leader Jenny Shepherd extends an open invitation to join medical advocacy.

Patient Care Protected: Women's Reproductive Health - 08/14/2023

One of the Texas Medical Association's top legislative priorities this session was to get clarity for physicians on how they can safely treat pregnant women while protecting the patient-physician relationship.

Patient Care Protected: Scope Creep/GME Funding - 08/07/2023

The Texas Medical Association's top legislative priority this session was to protect independent diagnosing and prescribing as the practice of medicine and to address current workforce shortages in a way that ensures patients have access to the same standard of care, regardless of where they live.

Frontline Defender: Umar Latif, MD, Tackles Physicians' Moral Injury Plight - 08/05/2023

Frisco psychiatrist Umar Latif, MD, applies his expertise in suicide prevention and treatment among military personnel and veterans to another crisis on the home front: moral injury among physicians.

Patient Care Protected: Medicaid Payment Increase - 08/04/2023

One of the Texas Medical Association's top legislative priorities this session was to help physicians grow their Medicaid panels and access to care with healthier payment rates.

Patient Care Protected: E-Cigarette Regulation and Taxation - 08/04/2023

State lawmakers gave tobacco-control advocates – among them Texas physicians – a big victory by allocating a nearly $4.3 million increase for nicotine cessation and prevention efforts.

Patient Care Protected: Network Adequacy, Surprise Billing - 08/04/2023

Spurred by physician reports of insurers taking advantage of their leverage in contract negotiations, the Texas Medical Association prioritized network adequacy reform this session.

Patient Care Protected: Vaccines, ImmTrac2 Modernization - 08/04/2023

Texas physicians started this year’s legislative session with a simple strategy on vaccines: defend existing protections and push for a long-overdue technological upgrade to ImmTrac2, the state’s vaccination registry.

Patient Care Protected: Prior Authorization Reforms - 08/04/2023

Carrying the torch from last session, the Texas Medical Association followed up on its 2021 gold-card success with a new prior authorization reform for vulnerable patients and other insurance-related policy wins this session.

Patient Care Protected: Physician Autonomy/Corporate Practice Protections - 08/04/2023

Despite an onslaught of attempts by state government and corporate entities to undermine the patient-physician relationship, the Texas Medical Association successfully prevented any new measures criminalizing patient care this legislative session

Patient Care Protected: Medical Liability Reforms - 08/04/2023

For the 20th year in a row, the Texas Medical Association successfully defended the state's medical liability reforms, in keeping with its legislative priorities for the most recent session.

Patient Care Protected: Medicaid Coverage for Women and Children - 08/04/2023

The Texas Medical Association achieved a key legislative objective this session with the passage of House Bill 12 by Rep. Toni Rose (D-Dallas), which extends Medicaid postpartum coverage from two months to one year.