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Legislature Examines Children’s Mental Health Ahead of 2025 Session - 09/24/2024

Texas lawmakers have made great strides in their ongoing investment in mental health services and support for children and their families, and that must continue if Texas is to improve such access to care and reduce the risk of behavioral health crises.

Senate Committee Tackles Scope of Practice in Access-to-Care Hearing - 09/23/2024

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.

DSHS Seeks More Funding for Lab, Fighting Maternal Deaths - 09/19/2024

The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) is asking state lawmakers for new or “exceptional” funding to help the agency tackle several important health concerns facing the state, according to Commissioner John Hellerstedt, MD.

TMA Continues Push for Prior Auth Reform Ahead of 2025 Session - 09/17/2024

Three years after the Texas Medical Association spearheaded “gold card” prior authorization exemption legislation, delays and complications with payer approvals continue to adversely affect physicians and patients.

United Launches National ‘Gold Card’ Program - 09/17/2024

UnitedHealthcare announced the launch of what it’s calling a national “gold card” program, which purports to allow physicians to bypass the prior authorization process and is set to begin Oct. 1.

Texas Senate Committee Evaluates Potential AI Legislation - 09/04/2024

As the Texas Legislature considers new regulatory framework for artificial intelligence (AI) heading into the 2025 session, Texas Medical Association leaders are acting to ensure physicians’ knowledge and decision-making are integrated with the technology and not replaced by it.

State Plan Tackles Mental Health Coverage - 08/09/2024

Four years after the Texas Legislature passed legislation aimed to improve health plan coverage of mental health conditions and substance use disorders, a state workgroup has released a strategic plan to improve compliance with the law’s protections to put coverage of those treatments on par with other types of health care.

Medicine to Feds: Back Off Prior Authorization Requirements - 08/09/2024

The Texas Medical Association, American Medical Association, and a host of other medical societies are trying to stop onerous, care-impeding prior authorization requirements from overrunning Medicare Advantage plans.

Texas House Interim Charges Prioritize Access to Care - 06/03/2024

In an extension of the 2023 state legislative session, the Texas House remains focused on expanding access among Medicaid, pregnant, and mental health care patients, goals it shares with the Texas Medical Association.

TMA Urges Framework for Innovative Coverage, Cancer Prevention to Senate Committee - 05/21/2024

As the Texas Senate Committee on Health and Human Services begins its interim investigation into alternatives to employer-based health insurance and cancer prevention efforts, TMA offered recommendations to ensure patients have access to high-quality care. Read more.

Aetna Scraps Required Prior Auth for Cataract Surgery - 05/15/2024

Organized medicine’s efforts across the nation to torpedo or curb prior authorization recently got a small but encouraging boost when Aetna rescinded its year-old preauthorization requirement for cataract surgeries.

Texas Senate Interim Charges Underscore TMA Legislative Priorities - 04/29/2024

Scope-of-practice creep and access to mental health care are among the 57 charges Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick recently issued for Senate committees to study ahead of the 2025 legislative session. The Texas Medical Association’s advocacy for medicine-friendly policy also continues apace during the interim, with the association closely monitoring several of these charges.

TMA Pushes for Prior Authorization Limits, Clarity - 04/16/2024

After hearing story after story of delays and denials, the Texas Medical Association is pushing the Texas Legislature to sign off on measures that would significantly curb insurers’ ability to require prior authorization on needed care, as well as clarify for both physicians and patients what it means when prior authorization is required.

CMS to Test Prior Auth Requirements for Certain ASC Procedures - 04/10/2024

Texas physicians soon may encounter new Medicare prior authorization requirements for certain services that double as cosmetic procedures when provided at an ambulatory surgical center.

Shielding the Gold Card Law: TMA Fights to Guarantee Gold Card is Implemented as Intended - 04/09/2024

Texans earned one of its most prolific victories with its prior auth exemption law but still fights to guarantee it's implemented as intended.

TMA Moment in Time: First Tuesdays at the Capitol - 04/09/2024

TMA’s signature advocacy event offers invaluable facetime with lawmakers.

You Write Scripts? You Better Sign Up With the PMP - 02/28/2024

If you don't yet have a user account set up with the state's prescription monitoring program (PMP), known as PMP Aware, now is a good time to get it done.

New Law Prohibits Employer COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates, With Exceptions - 02/28/2024

Thanks to advocacy by the Texas Medical Association, guardrails for patient safety and practice viability are included in a new state law that prohibits employers, including physician offices and health care facilities, from mandating COVID-19 vaccines among employees.

Grassroots Physician Advocacy Fuels Early TEXPAC Win - 02/16/2024

Looking to build on the victory, TMA’s bipartisan political arm has endorsed a long list of medicine-friendly candidates, informed by local physician support and its own rigorous evaluation process. The Texas primary election is on March 5. Read more.

Governor Approves Bill to Reduce Prior Authorization Hassles - 02/14/2024

Care for countless Texas patients will happen more quickly by reducing health insurers’ bureaucratic delays, thanks to a bill Gov. Greg Abbott allowed to become law this weekend. The Texas Medical Association  prioritized curbing health insurers’ onerous prior authorization practices this legislative session, resulting in passage of House Bill 3459 by Rep. Greg Bonnen, MD (R-Friendswood), and Sen. Dawn Buckingham, MD (R-Lakeway), with considerable support by Sen. Jane Nelson (R-Flower Mound).

Prior Auth Processes to Streamline Under Medicare Advantage, Other Federal Programs - 01/23/2024

Physicians who care for patients enrolled in federal health plans can expect shorter prior authorization response times and other process improvements in coming years, thanks to longstanding advocacy by the Texas Medical Association and others in organized medicine.

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.

Safety in Statute: State Law Guides Violence Prevention in Health Care - 01/05/2024

A new state law guides violence prevention plans in health care.  

No Prior Auth Required for Generic Asthma Meds Following Medicaid Formulary Change - 12/19/2023

As of Dec. 15, physicians can prescribe generic asthma medications previously listed as non-preferred on the Medicaid preferred drug list without needing prior authorization.

Send TMA Your Prior Authorization Nightmare Stories - 12/11/2023

Arbitrary. Confusing. Frustrating. Never-ending. Maddening. Those are some of the terms we can actually print that describe physicians’ experience with insurance companies’ prior authorization requirements and approval processes.