Texas Lawmakers Give Final Approval to Medicaid Simplification Bill, Increase Medical Privacy Protections
The Texas Legislature on May 27 gave final approval a bill designed to increase the number of children enrolled in Medicaid by simplifying the application process, the Dallas Morning News reports. State lawmakers expect about 600,000 new children to enroll in Medicaid after the changes, which would include eliminating the current face-to-face interview requirement. In addition, simplifying the "complex and time-consuming" enrollment process may save the state $10 billion over 20 years by giving more children access to preventive measures, such as immunizations, that avert costly medical treatment.
Other Health Legislation
Facing a May 28 deadline for all legislative action, Texas lawmakers also completed work on numerous other bills, including a measure that would require patient consent for the release of medical information. Called the Texas Medical Privacy Act, the bill would to limit the use of patient information for marketing purposes. In addition, lawmakers approved a bill to "ease" the shortage of dental hygienists in rural areas. Under the bill, dentists in rural areas could train hygienists, while dentists in metropolitan areas would have to continue to hire only state licensed hygienists. The provision was part of a dentistry bill that will reduce Medicaid reimbursements and create a "teledentistry program" for students in rural areas (Stutz, Dallas Morning News, 5/28). State legislators also approved a new $1.4 billion system to provide insurance coverage for teachers (Ratcliffe, Houston Chronicle, 5/27). After approving the measures over the weekend, state lawmakers sent the bills to Gov. Rick Perry (R) for his signature (Dallas Morning News, 5/28).
