Earlier this month, the Senate Finance Committee took up Article II of the state budget, which covers health and human services, including Medicaid, child protective services, and mental health. TAFP submitted testimony calling on lawmakers to implement a set of recommendations designed to support and strengthen access to primary care. Here are the Academy’s five recommendations.
Modernize Texas’ Medicaid eligibility system
The first recommendation is to invest in upgrading the Texas Integrated and Enrollment System, or TIERS. Funding the effort to upgrade the eligibility system to the level requested by the Health and Human Services Commission will improve access to programs for Texans who need them. “A high functioning eligibility system will also help reduce financial pressure on primary care practices, which often float the costs of care when people experience gaps in coverage,” the Academy stated in its testimony.
Bolster Texas’ primary care network by modernizing Medicaid primary care physician payments and fixing Medicaid provider enrollment
TAFP told lawmakers that Medicaid payment rates and the system used to make those payments are woefully outdated, contributing to the financial instability of primary care practices as well as the state’s difficulty recruiting and retaining a sufficient primary care physician workforce. “Texas must not only increase the amount it pays for primary care services, but reform how it pays,” TAFP testified.
The Academy recommended a 10% increase in Medicaid payments for adult office-based primary care services to match the 2023 increase enacted for pediatric and obstetric services. It also called for the establishment of an expert panel of primary care clinicians, health plans, and others to make recommendations to modernize the Mediaid payment system.
Promote timely access and availability of women’s preventive health services
The Academy called for full funding of the state’s women’s health programs – Healthy Texas Women, the Family Planning Program and the Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Program. In addition, TAFP called for funding to provide comprehensive care to women before pregnancy and to provide enhanced screening for perinatal depression among postpartum women.
Preserve robust disease prevention initiatives
TAFP told the committee that continued investment in the public health capabilities of the Department of State Health Services is imperative to ensure a healthier Texas. “Family physicians and the communities they serve are stronger when they have a reliable, statewide public health agency as their partner,” TAFP testified.
Enhance funding to expand innovative initiatives to improve maternal health quality and safety
in 2018, DSHS launched TexasAIM, an innovative program to help make births safer, implemented in partnership with the national Alliance for Innovation in Maternal Health, the Texas Collaborative for Healthy Mothers and Babies, and the Texas birthing hospitals, physicians and nurses throughout the state.
“We urge lawmakers to provide additional dollars to expand TexasAIM — a proven program to improve birth outcomes,” the Academy stated. “Moreover, we ask that any additional funds include an allocation to offset rural hospitals’ costs to participate, including staff training and travel, to ensure their continued ability to participate.”