After an extensive investigation into the managed care of poor and disabled Texans who use Medicaid, a bill to help fight against healthcare companies who are profiting from the system cleared the Texas House of Representatives Human Services committee last week, reports the Dallas Morning News.
Houston Republican Rep. Sarah Davis, authored the 60-page bill and told DMN she hopes to “assure that Texas’ most vulnerable populations are receiving the health care that taxpayers are paying for.”
The DMN investigation revealed how government officials in charge of administering medicaid and serving patients often ended up working for the healthcare companies that were profiting without providing adequate care and lobbying the state government to keep the system in place. The Medicaid managed care industry means that state and federal governments pay $22 billion a year to companies and nonprofits who decide which services to provide and bills to pay, and they make money from what they don’t spend on patients.
The bill has been revised from the original version, but still creates more resources for patients who are denied crucial services, increases regulation and transparency for the companies, according to DMN.
Read the more here.
