Texas lawmakers are proposing bills aimed at overhauling the Texas Medicaid system after a Dallas Morning News investigation uncovered how managed care companies are skimping on treatments and medical equipment.
Four things to know:
1. The proposals call for greater protection for Medicaid patients who are denied treatments. They also seek more state oversight of the state's managed care program.
2. Under Texas' managed Medicaid program, the state and federal governments pay about $22 billion each year for insurers, pharmacy benefit managers and some nonprofits to administer the benefits. According to the Dallas Morning News' series "Pain & Profit," many of those companies who are paid upfront by Texas make billions in profit from what isn't spent on patient care.
3. Years of poor state oversight of the healthcare companies have left patients and their families lacking coverage for medically needed services, according to the report. In addition, the investigation found managed care companies largely overstated how many physicians and specialists were available to treat beneficiaries.
4. Top health officials have denied the reports and waived hundreds of millions in fines against the managed care companies, according to the Dallas Morning News.
For the full Dallas Morning News report, click here.