By Mary E. Nava, MBA

The 87th Texas Legislative Session is Now in the History Books – A Session Like No Other

By Mary E. Nava, MBA, BCMS Chief Government Affairs Officer

For the first time, the 87th Texas Legislative Session was mostly a virtual one for physicians. There were no in-person visits to the Capitol in Austin for First Tuesdays, except for approximately 90 physicians from around the state, who were called up to testify in person on behalf of Texas Medical Association (TMA) legislation. Overall, the Session was a success for a number of medicine’s issues. Here are highlights of some key TMA-supported priority legislation: • House Bill (HB) 1445 by House Insurance Committee Chairman

Rep. Tom Oliverson, MD, (R-Cypress), eliminates a sales tax on outsourced medical billing services. The bill passed and was one of the first pieces of legislation signed by the Governor. HB 1445 takes effect on Jan. 1, 2022. • HB 3459, TMA’s prior authorization “gold card” bill, by Rep. Greg

Bonnen, MD (R-Friendswood), passed and was signed into law. It takes effect Sept. 1, 2021. HB 3459 removes administrative prior authorization requirements for routine prescriptions and treatments. The bill will allow physicians to earn a “gold card” exemption from health plans if the physician achieves an 80% approval rating per procedure and per health plan in one plan year, thus earning a “gold card” for the next year. This legislation also requires that peer-to-peer reviews be conducted by a Texas-licensed physician in the same or similar specialty. • Senate Bill (SB) 248 by Sen. Nathan Johnson (D-Dallas) establishes licensure requirements for e-cigarette retailers and calls for vaping products to be regulated the same as other tobacco products. SB 248, which becomes law without the Governor’s signature, takes effect Sept. 1, 2021. • HB 133 by Rep. Toni Rose (D-Dallas), extends Medicaid coverage for eligible women to six months postpartum instead of 60 days after a woman gives birth or miscarries. The legislation takes effect

Sept. 1, 2021. • HB 2658 by Rep. James Frank (R-Wichita Falls), improves Medicaid coverage for children under 19 years of age, providing two consecutive six-month periods of coverage, with verification of a child’s continued eligibility. This legislation started out as HB 290 by Rep. Philip Cortez (D-San Antonio) and was amended onto

HB 2658. The legislation becomes effective Sept. 1, 2021.

Many thanks to the following physicians from Bexar County who testified on behalf of medicine’s issues this session: Adam Bruggeman, MD, Sanjiv Kumar, MD, Michael Leonard, MD, James Lukefahr, MD, Jason Morrow, MD, Zeke Silva, MD and Edward Wright, MD.

In addition, we thank the following physicians, Alliance members and medical students who participated in the virtual First Tuesdays at the Capitol: Physicians – Michael Battista, MD, Daniel Deane, MD, Carmen Garza, MD, Pam Hall, MD, Leah Jacobson, MD, Alex Kenton, MD, Scott Kercheville, MD, Alisha King, MD, Rudy Molina, MD, Robyn Phillips-Madson, Joel Reyes, MD, Ninza Sanchez, MD, John Shepherd, MD and Zeke Silva, MD.

Alliance members – Jennifer Lewis, Jenny Shepherd and Martha Vijjeswarapu.

Medical students – Gloimai Cowan, Rose Ann Huynh, Swetha Maddipudi, Amna Naqvi, Shail Vyas and Ryan Wealther.

Of the over 6,900 bills filed, the Governor signed into law 1,034 pieces of legislation that passed during the legislative session. He vetoed 20 bills and 105 bills were filed without his signature.

At the time of this writing, the first called special session of the 87th Legislature began July 8. Agenda items cover a number of items, including: Bail Reform, Election Integrity, Border Security, Article X Funding, Family Violence Prevention, Youth Sports, Social Media Censorship, Abortion-inducing Drugs, Critical Race Theory, Thirteenth Check and Appropriations pertaining to property tax relief.

To read more about the outcome of medicine’s issues, see the TMA legislative wrap-up brochure in this issue of San Antonio Medicine or visit texmed.org for more details.

Mary E. Nava, MBA is the Chief Government Affairs Officer and Legislative/Socioeconomics Committee liaison at BCMS.

To learn more about how you can get involved in legislative advocacy, consider joining the BCMS Legislative and Socioeconomics Committee by submitting your request by email to mary.nava@bcms.org.