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2023
Uvalde couldn’t bring gun reform. Can it bring Abbott’s promised investments in mental health? (Editorial)
Houston Chronicle, 4/30/2023
Opinion: More resources are needed to meet our children’s serious mental health needs
Corpus Christi Caller-Times, 4/6/2023
Lege, expand access to health care for children
Legislative Clips (San Antonio-Express News), 1/30/23
Commentary: Lege, expand access to health care for children
San Antonio Express-News, 1/29/23
Child services lacking at Texas hospitals
Canyon News, 1/29/23
Texas children’s hospitals seeking funds to improve mental health care across the state
Newsbreak, 1/27/23
Texas children’s hospitals seeking funds to improve mental health care across the state
KCDB (NBC – Lubbock), 1/27/23
Texas children’s hospitals seeking funds to improve mental health care across the state
Fox 34 (Lubbock), 1/27/23
Texas children’s hospitals want $300 million to improve mental health care access
KTRE (ABC – Lufkin), 1/27/23
Texas hospitals don’t have enough beds, services to care for children, new report suggests
Aol, 1/26/23
Texas children’s hospitals want $300 million to improve mental health care access
KAUZ (Wichita Falls), 1/26/23
Texas hospitals don’t have enough beds, services to care for children, new report suggests
Newsbreak, 1/26/23
Texas hospitals don’t have enough beds, services to care for children, new report suggests
Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 1/26/23
Texas children’s hospitals want $300 million to improve mental health care access
KLTV 7 (Tyler – ABC), 1/26/23
Texas children’s hospitals want $300 million to improve mental health care access
Fox 34 (Lubbock), 1/25/23
Texas children’s hospitals want $300 million to improve mental health care access
KCDB (NBC – Lubbock), 1/25/23
Three cheers for Children’s Hospital Day
The Austin 100, 1/25/23
2022
Texas children’s hospitals ask lawmakers to prioritize youth behavioral health in 2023
State of Reform, 12/15/22
Texas must do more to end child suicide
Bryan College-Station Eagle, 10/3/22
Texas must do more to end child suicide
Bryan College-Station Eagle, 10/3/22
We must address child suicide in North Texas
Dallas Morning News, 9/29/22
Lawmakers agree: More Texas kids need insurance
Spectrum News 1, 9/29/22
Child suicide in Texas is alarming. We should address this issue locally
Dallas Morning News, 9/28/22
Child suicide in Texas: an emergency we must talk about locally
Corpus Christi Caller-Times, 9/25/22
Child suicide in Texas: a national emergency we must address locally
Corpus Christi Caller-Times, 9/23/22
Child suicide in Texas: an emergency we must talk about locally
Hereford Brand, 9/14/22
CHAT statement in response to Uvalde 2022
6/26/22
Children’s Hospital Association of Texas honors Rep. Four Price
Borger News-Herald, 6/3/22
OPINION: Children in Texas need a healthy Medicaid program
Caller Times, 4/28/22
Texas children need a healthy Medicaid program: Stacy E. Wilson
Yahoo Sports, 4/25/22
Texas children need a healthy Medicaid program: Stacy E. Wilson
El Paso Times, 4/25/22
Hospital chief appointed chair of state association
El Paso Inc, 3/17/22
Dr. Cindy Stout appointed to Children’s Hospital Association of Texas
KTSM-TV (NBC – El Paso), 3/15/2022
Children’s Hospital Association of Texas members provide expert insight to U.S. Senate Finance Committee on the pandemic’s devastating effect on kids’ mental health
Lexington Leader, 2/23/22
Amid COVID-19 surge, focus on children’s mental health is crucial
Bowie News, 2/4/2022
Amid COVID-19 Surge, Focus on Children’s Mental Health is Crucial
Alice Echo-News Journal, 2/2/22
Child COVID-19 hospitalizations rise in Texas
KRGV-TV (ABC, Rio Grande), 1/7/2022
Texas se prepara para posible aumento de hospitalizaciones de niños con COVID-19
KRGV-TV (ABC, Rio Grande), 1/6/2022
COVID-19 hospitalizations double in Texas as omicron strains staffing
KRGV-TV (ABC, Rio Grande), 1/4/22
COVID-19 hospitalizations double in Texas as omicron strains staffing
The Texas Tribune, 1/3/22
2021
Kolkhorst awarded by the Children’s Hospital Association
The Colorado County Citizen, 11/24/21
Sen. Kolhorst Receives Children’s Health Care Hero Award
KWHI-TV (Brenham), 11/22/21
Lawmakers Improve Medicaid Access For Children And New Moms, But Fail To Expand Coverage To Lower-Income Texans
KUT (NPR), 6/4/21
What They Are Saying About “Healthy Families, Health Texas”, the House Plan on Health Care.
EIN Presswire, 4/9/21
Covenant Children’s encourages public to help prevent child abuse with awareness activities
KLBK-TV (CBS – Lubbock), 4/7/21
‘Our women are dying’: Texas lawmakers urged to extend Medicaid to a year after birth for new mothers
San Antonio Express News, 3/23/21
Texas lawmakers weight changes to protect families wrongly accused of child abuse
NBC News, 3/3/21
2020
Children’s Hospital Association Pushes for Medicaid Funding in Next Legislative Session
Capitol Tonight, 12/17/20
Stacy Wilson, President of CHAT, joined Fox7 Good Day Austin, to assure parents across Texas they have the capacity to care for your children during the uptick in COVID-19
KTBC (Fox 7 – Austin), 7/4/20
Texas Children’s Hospital admitting adult patients because of COVID-19 surge
Houston Chronicle, 6/22/20
Recent News
Stacy E. Wilson
Published 2:00 p.m. CT April 28, 2022
April is Medicaid Awareness Month—a time dedicated to highlighting the vital program that provides health coverage to approximately half of the 8 million children living in Texas. Medicaid is critical not only to these children and their families but also to Texas’ comprehensive children’s hospitals, as 42.5% of Medicaid enrollees are children. In Nueces County alone, more than 50,000 children under the age 21 are enrolled in Medicaid.
Read More: Caller Times Article
Texas Families—Especially Texas Children—
Need A Healthy Medicaid Program
By Stacy E. Wilson, J.D.
Medicaid is an efficient and effective health coverage program for Texas children, and federal and state governments should continue to stabilize and improve the program’s coverage and benefits for children.
About 3.5 million children in Texas are enrolled in Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). That’s about half of the children living in Texas, yet children don’t drive Medicaid costs. Non-disabled children make up about 70 percent of the Medicaid caseload in Texas but account for only 30 percent of the spending.
Medicaid provides a safety net for working families that have children with complex medical conditions. The program helps shoulder the financial burden not covered by commercial insurance, ensuring that these families are not devastated financially.
Children with access to Medicaid are more likely to attend school, graduate from high school, and go to college, becoming healthier adults who will earn more and pay more in taxes than those who do not have appropriate health care as children. Dramatic changes or across-the-board cuts to Medicaid would negatively impact coverage for children.
Thanks to the efficiency of the program, growth in per capita Medicaid expenditures in Texas falls below both commercial insurance and Medicare levels. When adjusted for inflation, Texas is spending less per Medicaid enrollee than the state did in 2001.
The Children’s Hospital Association of Texas (CHAT) advocates for a series of elements that we believe are essential for the Medicaid program to adequately protect Texas children.
- To continue to be efficient and cost-effective, the Medicaid benefit design should specifically address children’s needs. National standards emphasize early intervention, and those standards should continue as the baseline benefit for children.
- Current criteria for children’s Medicaid eligibility should remain in place. Delaying access to health care for children, especially preventive services, through waitlists or suspended enrollment only creates higher costs for these children and the health system later.
- Children must have timely access to appropriate health care services. This access to high-quality, appropriate care can be ensured through fair and adequate provider reimbursement. Reimbursement rates must be sufficient so that an adequate number and the appropriate types of providers participate in Medicaid. Similarly, network adequacy requirements should ensure that children and their families have access to high-quality services designed for them.
- Burdensome cost-sharing requirements will delay treatment, add to providers’ bad debt, and ultimately increase costs. Children should continue to have access to preventive services at no cost. Alternatively, cost-sharing should be applied on a sliding fee scale, and certain children should be exempt from these requirements. Reasonable out-of-pocket caps should be implemented to avoid penalizing patients with chronic physical or behavioral health conditions.
- Medicaid should incentivize improvements in quality, safety, and efficiency. This can be achieved by sharing cost savings with providers or encouraging other alternative payment methodologies. Medicaid should also provide bonuses or other incentive payments for quality and safety achievements by providers.
Children must not lose ground as health care is debated at the federal and state levels. Any reforms must build on the achievements our state and others have already made to further improve children’s health coverage and care for children. CHAT members are committed to the health care and health of children across the state, serving all children who walk through their doors. We should work towards solutions to ensure that Texas children thrive, with better health and stronger futures.
Stacy E. Wilson, J.D. is the president of the Children’s Hospital Association of Texas. CHAT members are Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas (Austin), Driscoll Children’s Hospital (Corpus Christi), Children’s Health (Dallas), El Paso Children’s Hospital, Cook Children’s Health Care System (Fort Worth), Texas Children’s Hospital (Houston), Covenant Children’s Hospital (Lubbock), and Children’s Hospital of San Antonio.