This seems like a silly question because surely the agency that pays billions of dollars to DMOs and MCOs and keeps the Medicaid show on the road in Texas should know something—and perhaps should know everything– about the credentialing of their Medicaid dentists in Texas. You wouldn’t be … Read More
The American Dental Association’s Health Policy Institute last month published the results of an ongoing survey it has been conducting since January 2022, quizzing some 3,000 participating private practice dentists each month to measure the impact of COVID-19 and other … Read More
Texas Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General came out with its last quarterly report for fiscal year 2022 this month. OIG provider settlements One of the key takeaways from the report is that 16% of the 147 … Read More
TDMR received this letter highlighting the difficulty Medicaid dental providers are having in today’s current economic climate and the need for the legislature this session to take corrective action. We publish it in hopes that it will reach open and … Read More
Texas Health and Human Services is looking for a dental policy analyst for its HHSC Medical and Dental Benefits Program. As they say, “If you enjoy researching, writing policy and remaining current with dental practices, and are interested in being … Read More
State Medicaid Director Stephanie Stephens, in a speech given on September 27 at the 2022 North Texas State of Reform Health Policy Conference, stated that an HHS priority for the upcoming legislative budget is Medicaid provider rates. Provider fees a … Read More
TDMR received an email from Texas Health and Human Services this week requesting everyone’s help to come up with ideas to save some dough. Apparently, the Texas Legislature directed HHS to figure out how to save $350 million for the … Read More
Thanks to the excessive prices for oil products due to the attempted embargo of Russian oil to punish the country for its war on Ukraine, the Texas state budget will benefit to the tune of some $27 billion, according to … Read More
The Texas Exclusions Database simplifies applicant screening for Medicaid providers, offering the ability to better protect their patients with real-time verification of potential employees before they are hired. Texas Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) protects … Read More
After our article about the need for a review of Medicaid dental fees was published in May, we received a number of comments from dentists about how the lack of a fee increase is impeding service to their clients and … Read More
Everyone remembers the Frew case back in 2004 when the Supreme Court forced Texas to provide basic healthcare services including dental care for Medicaid-eligible children. Reason for fee increase in 2007 For those that don’t remember, let’s recap. Linda Frew, … Read More
TDMR received an email notification today that Texas HHS is looking for a Dental Policy Analyst to assist in advanced complex dental and medical benefits policy analysis, development and consultation. No necessary dental requirements The odd about the advertisement for … Read More
The Houston Chronicle broke a bombshell story today (paywall, unfortunately). This ortho story still has legs. OAG assisted company they were suing to defraud insurer The Chronicle reported that the Office of the Attorney General had secretly made last-minute modifications … Read More
TDMR has done a review of the Texas Medicaid dental maintenance organization contract available publicly on the Texas HHS website and found a requirement that all medical necessity determinations be based on “valid and reliable clinical evidence or a consensus … Read More
After our article last month on rate and coverage drops in Webb county for Medicaid waiver patients when DentaQuest took over the program, it didn’t take too long for us to be contacted about similar concerns within CHIP and children’s … Read More
Almost three hundred seniors and patients with disabilities were stranded mid-treatment plan in Laredo thanks to a change in dental insurance providers in July of this year. Since 2017, Dr. Amin Abdul of the Asclepius Dental Center of Laredo has … Read More
Last week TDMR obtained a copy of the latest HHS Ombudsman report on complaints about managed care to the agency from Medicaid clients. The report contains a significant section on Dental Managed care. Medicaid dentists may not get a copy … Read More
After our last article about possible termination from a DMO’s network for filing a complaint with HHS before all company complaint procedures have been exhausted, we picked up online copies of the Medicaid Provider manuals for DentaQuest, MCNA and UnitedHealthcare … Read More
After we published our article last week about the HHS complaint line and its email address, we received a few emails from dentists. Several were excited about the possibility of complaining to HHS about their DMO troubles, but one had … Read More
We received an email from a dentist a few weeks ago who was having trouble with a particular DMO. In the process of trying to assist them, we reached out to Texas HHS in an attempt to find a state-level … Read More
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General just published an audit report this week that Texas paid out incorrectly $922,557 in CHIP payments to Medicaid managed care organizations. Now a million dollars in the … Read More
By Ross Ramsey, The Texas Tribune – When this legislative session comes to an end on Memorial Day, Texas will still have more uninsured residents than any other state, and a higher percentage of uninsured residents, too. The Texas Legislature … Read More
April 23: Texas House votes down budget amendment aimed at giving health coverage to more uninsured Texans: The Texas Legislature has declined to pass any broad expansion of state and federal health care coverage for uninsured Texans since the Affordable … Read More
Almost a decade ago, on May 13, 2011, Byron Harris, famed WFAA investigative reporter, started a large freight train roaring down the track with his first story of a series, “Texas taxpayers pay big for straight teeth.” False narrative destroyed … Read More
We recently received a copy of a presentation to the House Appropriations Committee done by Cecile Young, the Executive Commissioner of Texas Health and Human Services. The presentation outlines the current scope of HHS and contains more than a few … Read More
UPDATE: Two days before we originally published this article on December 18, then entitled “Dentists Not Included as First Tier Healthcare Workers to Receive COVID-19 Vaccines,” the American Dental Association sent a letter to the CDC asking the agency to … Read More
A few weeks ago, we published our analysis of the latest Texas Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General quarterly report and were struck by the fact that despite the large number of Medicaid health professions represented, dentists received a … Read More
Cecile Young has been named the new head of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission as the agency fights an ever-growing number of coronavirus cases in the state. Young, who has more than three decades of experience working in … Read More
The state of Texas is trying to give away a business opportunity valued at roughly $10 billion. To win, all an applicant has to do is score highly on something like a standardized test. The applicants — in this case, … Read More
A collaboration between the Texas Health and Human Services Commission and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will provide comprehensive women’s health services through a Medicaid demonstration waiver over the next five years. The Healthy Texas Women demonstration waiver … Read More
Texas women have a healthcare problem. In 2017, Houston Public Media reported that 17 percent of Texas women live in poverty. In 2018, the Kaiser Family Foundation found that three in 10 Texas women are low-income, and almost one in … Read More
During an episode of Tenth Talks — a Texas Tribune video series on the next 10 years of Texas — Dr. Courtney N. Phillips, the executive director of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, talks about what it will … Read More
January 28, 2020 – 1:30pmHealth and Human Services Commission Brown-Heatly Building Public Hearing Room Hearing. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) will conduct a public hearing to receive public comment on proposed Medicaid payment rates for the 2020 … Read More
