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Coming Unwound: Mass Disenrollments Hurt Patients and Physicians Alike - 11/02/2023

The end of continuous Medicaid eligibility has led to mass disenrollments, hurting patients and physicians alike.

Medicaid Extends Reenrollment Time Frames - 08/09/2022

To help manage a backlog of revalidation applications stemming from the transition to Medicaid’s new Provider Enrollment Management System (PEMS), the state’s Medicaid claims payment contractor announced it will extend revalidation timeframes for physicians and other health care practitioners and suspend disenrollments related to that process.

TMB Adopts New Requirements on Reporting Conviction Details, Negligence Suits - 07/08/2022

Physicians who are convicted of a felony and certain misdemeanors must now submit a “description” of their infraction to the Texas Medical Board (TMB) within 30 days after the courts wrap up their case. The same requirement now applies to physicians who must pay damages in a medical negligence claim.

Feds Scrap TMA-Opposed SUNSET Regulation-Review Rule - 06/03/2022

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has turned out the lights on a “sunset” rule requiring extensive federal review of thousands of regulations, which the Texas Medical Association and others in organized medicine believed would needlessly divert HHS’ attention from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Communicating With Patients Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing - 09/23/2021

The Americans With Disabilities Act requires you do whatever necessary to ensure “effective communication” with deaf or hard-of-hearing patients. Here are some tips to help you do this.

Feds Release New Surprise Billing Rules - 07/16/2021

After passage of federal consumer protections against surprise and balance billing, the new law punted a lot of important details about enforcement to the federal rulemaking process.

Procedures on Informed Consent Lists Revised - 09/04/2018

The Texas Medical Disclosure Panel recently approved changes to the lists of medical care and surgical procedures that require disclosure of specific risks and hazards.

Guidelines for Medicaid Radiology Prior Authorization - 05/03/2018

Texas Medicaid requires prior authorization for outpatient diagnostic radiology services. Follow these guidelines to help you sail through the process.

DEA Investigations - 04/26/2017

This article provides general information regarding what to do, and what not to do, when a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) investigator contacts you.

Health Care Coverage for Low-Income Texans - 02/03/2017

Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) cover more than 4 million low-income Texans. That includes half of all children in the state and about two-thirds of people in nursing homes. As the Texas Medical Association has long cautioned, however, a Medicaid card does not equal access to health care. Extremely poor payment rates and extraordinarily high bureaucratic burdens lead most Texas physicians either to refuse to accept all new Medicaid patients or to limit the numbers they can see. TMA encourages the Texas Legislature to increase Medicaid and CHIP payments and reduce administrative hassles, and to search for creative new ways to provide more health insurance coverage for low-income Texans.