Health Care Advocate: Sept. 4, 2025

Table of Contents No Public Hospital Carveout in Bathroom Bill as Legislature Adjourns The final hours of the Texas Legislature’s second special session of 2025 featured lingering uncertainty for hospitals as THA feverishly pushed for an exemption for public hospitals from the “bathroom bill,” Senate Bill 8. That exemption didn’t materialize prior to the Legislature adjourning sine die on Wednesday…

Health Care Advocate: Aug. 28, 2025

Table of Contents Bathroom Bill, Abortion Drug Ban Reach House Floor THA followed the Texas House of Representatives closely today – and awaited activity on a key carveout – as two controversial bills were on the House floor calendar during the waning days of the Legislature’s second special session: Other key legislation THA is closely tracking includes: The Legislature is…

Health Care Advocate: Aug. 21, 2025

Table of Contents THA’s Friday Testimonies Will Include Bathroom Bill Comments The return of House Democrats for the Texas Legislature’s second special session of 2025 brought rapid movement this week on key legislation THA is tracking on abortion medications, disaster preparedness and the push to ban taxpayer-funded lobbying. Here’s a look at some of the key bills that have begun…

Health Care Advocate: Aug. 14, 2025

Table of Contents Abortion Drug Bill Passes Senate Despite THA Concerns THA testified as neutral Monday in the Texas Senate State Affairs Committee on a renewed effort to restrict the manufacture and importation of drugs classified as “abortion-inducing,” warning of unintended consequences tied to other, legitimate medical uses for those drugs. The committee heard Senate Bill 6 by Sen. Bryan…

Health Care Advocate: Aug. 7, 2025

Table of Contents Final CMS Hospital Inpatient Rule Includes 2.6% Payment Bump Last week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its finalized rules for the Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS). Overall, hospitals will see a net 2.6% increase in IPPS payments and an increase of $2 billion in Disproportionate Share Hospital and uncompensated care payments. CMS also…

Health Care Advocate: July 24, 2025

Table of Contents THA Throws Support Behind Doggett’s MA Prompt-Pay Bill U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Austin) announced this week the introduction of bipartisan legislation to establish needed prompt-pay standards in Medicare Advantage (MA). Dubbed the Prompt and Fair Pay Act, the measure has been endorsed at its outset by THA, the Texas Organization of Rural & Community Hospitals, the National…

Health Care Advocate: July 17, 2025

Table of Contents Special Session Preview: THA Tracking Flood, Abortion Items When state lawmakers return to Austin on Monday for a special session of the Texas Legislature, THA will be watching closely for resulting implications for hospitals. Like many other session-watchers, THA will follow progress on legislation for flood relief and disaster preparedness – suddenly of outsized importance following the…

Health Care Advocate: July 10, 2025

Table of Contents Flooding in Central Texas Prompts Multiple Disaster Declarations THA is monitoring the situation in Kerr County and surrounding areas in Central Texas after devastating floods last week led to more than 120 deaths, more than 170 people still missing, and state and federal disaster declarations for affected counties. Gov. Greg Abbott’s disaster declaration, first issued on July…

Health Care Advocate: July 3, 2025

Table of Contents “Big Beautiful Bill” Passes: THA Protects $10 Billion for Texas Medicaid Congress passed the legislation commonly known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act today with language related to provider taxes that won’t upend Texas’ local tax structure for funding Medicaid, contrary to what THA and other advocates feared during negotiations over the sprawling legislation. During Senate…

Health Care Advocate: June 26, 2025

Table of Contents Senate Parliamentarian Halts Provider Tax Reductions Today, U.S. Senate republicans hit a roadblock on the One Big Beautiful Bill, as the parliamentarian ruled that several health care provisions in the draft bill – including restrictions on Medicaid provider taxes – violate the Byrd Rule. This means that these provisions cannot move forward as written in the package,…