Medicaid Woes Subject of House Committee Hearing
At a Monday hearing on the implementation of Medicaid managed care in South Texas, lawmakers got a much bigger earful on the consequences of difficult budget decisions they made in the last legislative session.
In an effort to curb costs last session, lawmakers expanded Medicaid managed care, the health plan that oversees care for impoverished Texans, to South Texas, the border region and previously underserved areas. They made two other budget-saving moves: reducing state reimbursement rates to providers who care for "dual-eligible" patients — people who qualify for both Medicaid and Medicare — and crafting a health budget that did not account ...
Comments (2)
stlevine
The dual-eligible cuts are devastating some physicians' practices, especially in South Texas and rural parts of the state.
"Texas physicians want to take care of our patients. We want to see all Medicaid and Medicare patients and those who are covered by both payers, but … we cannot do it without your help," Dr. Cardenas said at the hearing. "We need your help and action to mitigate the cut so physicians can continue to care for Texas’ elderly — and often sickest — patients. Relief for these physicians and patients cannot happen too soon."
Tom Sweazea via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Well, when you have a governor who doesn't take federal funding what do you expect?!!