The Texas Hospital Association, Texas Medical Association and the chair of the Health and Human Services committee in the Texas Senate all support the bill, which would revamp Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program, as well as another bill that would extend such changes to health plans covering state employees, teachers and others.
The bills would allow physicians and hospitals to work together to lower the costs of medical care and then share in the savings, which is currently forbidden under anti-kickback and other laws. The bills would also cut payments for avoidable readmissions and other poor outcomes.
However, the proposal is being criticized as too ambitious to be done at the state level, and it may be difficult for the state to prevent hospitals from "gaming the system." Also, payments might be reduced due to another bill in the Texas legislature that would cut Medicaid expenditures by 10 percent to help fill a state budget shortfall of up to $27 billion in the next two years.
Read the Houston Chronicle report on Medicaid.
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