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by Tom
Banning
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For
true
college
basketball
fans,
March
can
never
come
soon
enough
as
it
is
the
beginning
of
what
is
known
around
the
world
as
March
Madness.
For
those
of
you
who
do
not
follow
college
basketball
or
are
not
familiar
with
March
Madness,
it
is
the
premier
college
basketball
tournament
where
64
teams
compete
to
decide
the
men’s
and
women’s
national
championship.
It
is
also
the
time
of
year
when
surprise
upsets
occur,
overnight
everyone
in
the
country
becomes
an
expert
prognosticator
on
the
outcome
of
the
tournament,
players
step-up
to
lead
their
teams
to
the
promised
land,
and
anything
can
and
does
occur.
So
what
does
college
basketball
have
to
do
with
Texas
politics?
You
start
with
a
purging
of
incumbent
Democrat
legislators
by
trial
lawyers
and
Democrat
partisans
exacting
revenge
on
several
colleagues
who
crossed
the
party
line
to
vote
for
tort
reform
and/or
redistricting.
Put
into
the
mix
an
on-going
and
ever
expanding
investigation
by
Travis
County
District
Attorney
Ronnie
Earle
into
possible
illegal
campaign
finance
abuses
by
the
Texas
Association
of
Business
and
Texans
for
a
Republican
Majority.
Couple
that
with
an
aggressive
set
of
health-care-related
interim
studies.
On
top
of
all
that,
add
the
constant
threat
of
a
special
session
to
reform
Texas’
school
finance
system
by
expanding
the
tax
base.
Voilla!
You
have
all
the
makings
of
a
Texas
version
March
Madness.
Stay
tuned
…
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Sign
Up to be a Legislative Ambassador!
Contact
your State Representative
and Senator
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Special
session:
Anything
can
happen
Lawmakers
continue
to
struggle
to
find
ways
to
reform
Texas’
outdated
public
school
financing
system
as
pressure
for
a
special
session
mounts.
Adding
to
the
lawmakers
struggle,
Texas’
school
financing
system
is
being
challenged
in
court,
a
number
of
school
districts
are
at
or
near
the
maximum
property
tax
levels,
and
there
has
been
an
intensifying
public
outcry
for
property
tax
relief.
When
the
Legislature
does
act
to
reform
the
current
system,
a
new
tax
plan
will
be
required
to
finance
public
education
and
right
now,
everything
is
on
the
table.
The
current
public
education
funding
system,
commonly
known
as
Robin
Hood,
takes
money
from
the
state’s
wealthiest
school
districts
and
sends
it
to
poorer
districts
to
equalize
funding
among
all
schools.
The
system
was
adopted
to
satisfy
constitutional
mandates
of
free
public
schools
for
all
and
spending
roughly
the
same
on
each
student.
To
create
equality
among
districts
the
system
annually
“recaptures”
about
$1.1
billion
from
the
richest
school
districts
—
about
11
percent
of
the
districts
—
and
redistributes
it
among
the
rest.
Currently,
almost
half
of
the
state’s
1,100
school
districts
are
near
or
at
the
constitutional
cap
of
$1.50
per
$100
valuation,
forcing
many
districts
to
cut
spending
on
public
education.
The
average
Texans
pays
$905
in
school
property
taxes,
the
nations
15th
highest
rate.
With
this
bleak
outlook
in
mind,
a
number
of
legislative
committees
began
studying
options
for
new
state
taxes
to
offset
as
much
as
$8
billion
in
cuts
to
local
school
property
taxes.
To
date,
no
firm
plan
on
how
to
reform
Texas’
school
finance
system
has
taken
form,
but
a
number
of
options
are
floating
around
including:
-
Increasing
the
sales
tax
rate;
-
Expanding
the
sales
tax
to
include
services
previously
exempted
or
excluded;
-
Creating
a
business
activity
tax;
-
Authorizing
video
lottery
terminals
for
use
at
existing
horse
and
dog
tracks;
-
Increasing
cigarette
and
other
“sin”
taxes;
-
Closing
the
franchise
tax
loophole;
-
Creating
a
statewide
property
tax
system
by
splitting
the
property
tax
rolls
with
business
being
treated
differently
from
residential
taxes.
Gov.
Perry
has
said
he
will
call
lawmakers
into
special
session
this
spring
if
there
is
consensus
among
legislative
leaders
to
revamp
the
school
finance
system.
As
of
press
time,
no
consensus
has
been
reached.
TAFP
is
working
closely
with
TMA
and
other
specialty
societies
to
make
sure
that
any
new
tax
plans
do
not
impede
on
access
to
medical
care.
Stay
tuned
…
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Contact
the TAFP Legislative Department:
Tom
Banning, Director of Legislative Affairs
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On
To
the
Promised
Land
Lt.
Gov.
David
Dewhurst
recently
charged
standing
committees
on
various
health-care-related
issues
to
work
over
the
legislative
interim.
These
interim
studies
will
serve
as
a
guide
for
the
next
legislative
session.
Here
is
a
sampling
of
issues
that
will
be
studied
and
likely
debated
next
session:
State
Affairs
Committee
-
Study
the
implementation
of
House
Bill
4
and
Proposition
12
in
achieving
lower
medical
malpractice
rates
and
providing
more
access
to
affordable
health
care.
The
committee
will
monitor
and
report
on
trends
in
medical
malpractice
insurance
rates
and
the
effect
tort
reform
has
on
access
to
health
care
and
provider
shortages
in
certain
regions,
particularly
along
the
border.
-
Study
the
implementation
of
changes
made
to
the
state
group
health
insurance
plans
and
identify
additional
cost-saving
measures.
The
committee
will
study
the
feasibility
and
practicality
of
offering
health
reimbursement
accounts
as
an
alternate
health
insurance
plan
for
those
insured
in
the
Employees
Retirement
System,
the
Teacher
Retirement
System,
and
university
plans.
The
committee
will
also
provide
recommendations
regarding
whether
the
current
method
of
administering
these
programs
is
in
the
best
interest
of
the
state
of
Texas
and
the
various
insured
populations,
or
whether
such
programs
might
be
more
efficiently
administered
in
another
fashion.
-
Study
the
implementation
of
SB
10
and
SB
541,
and
make
recommendations,
as
needed,
to
make
health
insurance
more
accessible
and
affordable
for
all
Texans.
-
Study
the
April
2003
United
States
Supreme
Court
decision
in
Kentucky
Association
of
Health
Plans
v.
Miller
to
determine
its
impact
on
Texas
laws
regulating
health
insurance
plans
under
the
Employee
Retirement
Income
Security
Act
of
1974
(ERISA)
and
make
recommendations
to
change
state
law
to
conform
with
recent
federal
court
decisions.
-
Study
the
reimbursement
methodology
of
health
care
plans
operating
in
Texas
for
out-of-network
claims,
and
make
recommendations
on
how
to
improve
effectiveness.
The
study
and
recommendations
should
encompass
all
plans,
including
those
participating
in
Texas’
Medicaid
managed
care
program
and
should
consider
federal
and
state
laws
as
well
as
Health
and
Human
Services
Commission
rules
relating
to
the
reimbursement
of
out-of-network
claims.
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Subcommittee
on
Higher
Education
-
Review
and
make
recommendations
relating
to
the
adequacy
of
funding
for
state
graduate
medical
education,
including
funding
required
for
professors,
facilities,
research
programs
and
students.
The
subcommittee
will
consider
recommending
an
increase
in
the
number
of
health
professionals.
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Health
and
Human
Services
Committee
-
Study
and
make
recommendation
on
structural
reform,
efficiency
improvements,
and
cost
savings
in
the
state
Medicaid
and
CHIP
programs,
with
the
goal
of
changing
the
method
and
delivery
of
service
to
reduce
costs
while
providing
the
intended
services.
-
Monitor
implementation
and
make
recommendations
to
improve
HB
2292,
including
reviews
of
implementation
of
the
preferred
drug
list
and
prior
authorization
and
the
new
call
center
for
determination
of
program
and
service
eligibility.
-
Study
and
make
recommendations
on
improving
Texas’
county
and
local
indigent
health
care
systems.
The
committee
will
consider
whether
the
system
should
be
regionalized
to
reflect
usage
and
gain
efficiencies,
so
that
one
or
more
counties
are
not
paying
for
regional
health
care.
-
Monitor
the
implementation
and
make
recommendations
to
enhance
the
effectiveness
of
legislation
relating
to
the
Board
of
Medical
Examiners,
legislation
relating
to
childhood
immunizations,
legislation
relating
to
the
pilot
front-end
Medicaid
fraud
reduction
systems,
federal
developments
related
to
TANF
reauthorization
and
related
programs,
expansion
and
construction
of
Federally
Qualified
Health
Centers,
federal
developments
related
to
prescription
drugs
in
Medicare
and
the
effect
on
Medicaid.
Also,
the
committee
will
monitor
and
report
on
the
use
of
new
federal
Medicare
funds
allocated
for
Texas.
-
Study
and
make
recommendations
on
increasing
electronic
transactions
in
health
care.
They
will
review
the
use
and
make
recommendations
on
improving
technology
in
health
care
administration,
including
expediting
pre-authorizations
and
increasing
the
efficiency
of
claims
processing
so
that
medical
providers
are
paid
once
procedures
are
pre-authorized
and
performed,
and
administrative
costs
lowered,
benefiting
both
the
consumer
and
the
managed
care
organizations.
-
Study
health
facility
regulation
in
Texas
and
make
recommendations
that
facilitate
innovation
and
patient
safety.
The
committee
will
study
hospitals,
including
niche
hospitals,
Federally
Qualified
Health
Centers
and
long
term
care
facilities,
and
make
recommendations
for
improving
patient
choice,
facility
competition,
indigent
health
care,
and
for
maintaining
a
competitive,
patient-oriented
health
care
industry.
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