Teaching Hospitals of Texas Announce Agenda for 2023 Texas Legislative Session
Support for the nursing workforce, Medicaid funding, and behavioral health are among the priorities
Jan. 10, 2023 (AUSTIN, Texas) –– Texas teaching hospitals have a robust legislative agenda for the 88th Texas Legislature to ensure the communities reliant on the state’s public hospitals and academic medical centers continue to have access to all of the services, resources, and programs provided by these world-class institutions.
“With nearly three years of a pandemic and an unprecedented health care workforce shortage, lawmakers have an opportunity this session to bolster support for Texas’ teaching hospitals and their vital roles as research institutions, trauma centers, clinical education and training sites, and, of course, trusted community-based health care providers,” said Maureen Milligan, Ph.D., CEO, Teaching Hospitals of Texas. “We have a real opportunity this session to reimagine and invest in the health workforce of the future, starting with clinical training infrastructure for nursing.”
Among teaching hospitals’ 2023 legislative priorities are:
- Preserving state general revenue for Medicaid.
- Achieving Medicaid funding parity among hospital types.
- Upholding existing statute that allows Medicaid clients to choose community, provider-based health plans.
- Maintaining trauma funding and the add-ons for trauma, rural, and safety-net hospitals.
- Growing the investment in the nurse workforce through grants to clinical sites.
- Continuing and growing existing investments in behavioral health services, including the Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium.
“We look forward to working with lawmakers to support advancements in workforce training; showcase teaching hospitals’ incredible work, innovations, and community investments; and ensure policies and funding are aligned with teaching hospitals’ work,” said Milligan.
The complete legislative agenda is available here.
ABOUT TEACHING HOSPITALS OF TEXAS
Formed in 1986, Teaching Hospitals of Texas (THOT) is a 501(c)(6) non-profit association of state, public and non-profit hospitals and health systems committed to providing access to quality health care for all Texans and to training the next generation of physicians, nurses, and allied health personnel. THOT members operate eight of Texas’ Level I trauma centers, in addition to regional burn units and poison control centers. The association strives to develop and support public policy at the state level that provides the necessary funding to ensure our state’s neediest families access to affordable preventive and acute care services.
