Stormy Weather: 
Medicine could be in for a rough ride when the Texas Legislature reconvenes in January

by Tom Banning, TAFP Director of Legislative Affairs

The legislative session is only a few short months from convening, and the dark clouds are gathering. Conditions are ripening for the “perfect storm” scenario organized medicine has predicted. Although health care costs for the state continue to rise, the state’s economy is sputtering along with the country’s. The miraculous recovery needed to erase the probable budget deficit is nowhere in sight. The post-redistricting Legislature promises to have many new members who will have to make decisions about some of the most contentious issues facing medicine in years. A professional service tax on physicians, the medical liability insurance crisis and prompt pay will all be on the table, so the academy is working fast and furiously to prepare.

In this issue of the magazine, we’re trying something we’ve never tried before. We’ve published a set of opinion pieces debating the medical liability crisis facing Texas physicians. One piece is from the Texas Medical Liability Trust, the state’s largest medical malpractice carrier, the other is from Hartley Hampton, legislative chair of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association.

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Understanding that medical liability reform will be TAFP’s number one legislative priority during the next session, we feel it is important that physicians read and understand the arguments being made by these different camps. It is our hope this exercise will not only educate family physicians about what is occurring in the medical malpractice debate, but that it will also serve to empower family physicians to become involved in the process.

The next issue of Texas Family Physician will focus on medical liability from a variety of areas including stories about the devastating impact this problem has or will have on patients’ access to care, as well as proposed legislative solutions.

If you have a story about how the liability crisis has impacted your practice or your patients, or if you have comments about either of the opinion pieces in this issue of Texas Family Physician, we strongly encourage you to write us and express those views.

Click here to respond to a survey that TAFP is conducting to gauge how these and other troubling changes to practice environment affects patients’ access to care. When the Texas Legislature reconvenes in January, we must be able to accurately document the degree to which these problems have compromised access to care. You can also find the survey on-line. Please take the time to complete the survey. The information we receive from you will be invaluable as we try to address these problems in the next legislative session.

 Contact the TAFP Legislative Department:

 Tom Banning, Director of Legislative Affairs

Greg Herzog, 
Legislative Aide

Visit the Member Advocacy section of the Web Site

New TDI Rule Proposal

The Texas Department of Insurance proposed rules requiring health maintenance organizations and insurance companies to disclose their fee schedules and payment codes to physicians and other health care providers, according to a June 4 Houston Chronicle article.

Gov. Rick Perry had set this June deadline for TDI after being assailed with doctors’ complaints about insurers not paying on time. Physicians could not access the information and as a result, have not been able to verify whether or not they have received proper compensation.

According to TDI, the rules will require disclosure of billing and coding policies and require that health providers be notified of changes at least 60 days in advance.

“These rules will enable health plans and physicians/providers to focus more of their time on providing quality health care services to patients instead of spending critical time and resources on needless disputes,” said Insurance Commissioner Joe Montemayor in the article.

Two visions of Texas health

Gubernatorial candidates Tony Sanchez and Rick Perry recently released their proposed visions for health care in Texas. Sanchez’s focus is on the fundamentals of health care including access to affordable quality care, prevention, and the health care infrastructure. To make this possible, he plans to use existing federal funds, streamline the system for inefficiencies, and ensure that funds set aside for health care are actually used for health care.

Perry’s initiatives are aimed at increasing health insurance coverage, expanding health care options and boosting the availability of prescription drugs for the elderly. Perry intends to use funds from the Texas Health Insurance Risk Pool, the $20 million in tobacco receipts collected beyond what was required for the 2002-03 budget, and federal funding to implement his proposals.