Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas The Texas House today passed SB 8 legislation authored by Senator Jane Nelson to improve health care in Texas despite attempted interference from the Obama administration. The bill now returns to the Senate for review of changes made by the House.
This bill breaks down regulatory barriers to allow innovative health care delivery and payment models that will make health care more affordable and improve quality of care Senator Nelson R-Flower Mound said.
Late in the legislative process the Federal Trade Commission wrote a letter attacking the legislation. Senator Nelson objected to the attack as irresponsible inflammatory and inaccurate.
The federal government needs to recognize that its paternalistic one-size-fits-all approach to health care is suffocating the states she said.
Senate Bill 8 would:
- allow providers who obtain a health care collaborative certificate to join together to improve quality and efficiency without the fear of violating antitrust and fee-splitting laws;
- require a proposed health care collaborative be reviewed by the Texas Attorney Generals office and obtain a certificate from the Texas Department of Insurance; and
- create the Texas Institute of Health Care Quality and Efficiency as a forum for consumers health care providers and insurers to make recommendation on effective health care delivery models and coordination of services.
We want to better align the money we pay into our health care system with the results we want -- healthy patients Senator Nelson said.
