Looking for a fee increase for Medicaid services?
Here is another opportunity to make your voice heard. We received this email notification for Texas HHS this week.
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission is working on its Legislative Appropriations Request for the 89th Texas Legislature, which starts in January 2025.
Hearing from the people we serve and our partners is a critical part of developing our budget request and public comments are open.
The deadline for comment is Nov. 22.
The Legislative Appropriation Request outlines the agency’s funding needs for the next two years. HHSC must submit it to the Legislature by Sept. 1, 2024.
Let HHSC know what you believe should be in the 2026-2027 request by submitting your ideas and recommendations to CFOStakeholderFeedback@hhs.texas.gov.
Please include the following in your email:
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- Your name or the name of your organization and a contact person.
- A clear, concise description of the recommendation.
- What need would be addressed by this recommendation.
- The expected impact or benefit to the state or the people we serve.
The deadline for submitting recommendations is Nov. 22.
HHSC will review and consider all submissions as it develops the LAR.
Hello, I have been a Texas dentist, treating Medicaid patients, for 11 years. I have always enjoyed working with this patient base and taking great care of the kids. Medicaid dental benefits have helped the community tremendously and I love seeing the kids grow older with healthier oral hygiene. Since I have started working in Texas in 2012, the Medicaid fees have not changed despite every cost associated with running a dental practice has greatly increased. If I were to be able to continue providing excellent care for Medicaid patients there would need to be a substantial increase in fees. I estimate a minimum of 55% increase. There are currently some procedures like removing painful baby teeth that have a frustratingly low fee of $11 or full coverage crowns of $540 that does not even cover the lab fee + materials. If you have any further questions please feel free to reach out to me.
Texas should lobby CMS to keep the proceeds of fraud recoveries. Since HHSC had to repay $125 million back to the Federal government after the Xerox dental fraud fiasco, anti fraud efforts have been abysmal, and the OIG office in Texas (Wilson, Bowen) has been staffed with those of questionable ethics.
We will guarantee a reduction in inappropriate payments to help slow the tsunami of health care expenses.
You have a good point here. States don’t want to find Medicaid fraud because they lose money having to pay back the federal share. We did a series of articles years ago when Gov. Perry allowed competent fraud investigators to check out HHSC. They found so much they were fired and placed under a non-disclosure gag order by the OAG. We could only do the story because someone in government let the cat out of the bag publicly.