featured-image

Texas officials on Thursday rejected attempts by several major insurers for needy families to cancel a proposal that would drop them from the state Medicaid program and shake up the coverage of nearly 2 million low-income Texans. At issue are some $116 billion in Medicaid contracts that Texas Health and Human Services officials are attempting to award by the end of the summer, a plan announced earlier this year that has drawn wide criticism because it would eliminate three major health plans run for decades by the state's premiere nonprofit children's hospitals. Some 1.

8 million Texans who receive Medicaid coverage from six managed care organizations across the state would lose their current health plans and be shifted to new insurers next year if the decision stands. Medicaid STAR and CHIP programs cover the cost of routine, acute, and emergency medical visits. STAR is primarily for pregnant women, low-income children and their caretakers.



CHIP provides health care to low-income children whose family's income is too high for Medicaid, which has some of the lowest income limits in the country. Thursday's decision is a significant step toward finalizing the plan, which would: The health plans are expected to appeal the decision, which puts the future of the procurement - the term for a new contract for the MCOs that run STAR and CHIP - squarely at the discretion of Texas Health and Human Services Executive Commissioner Cecile E. Young.

"We remain disappointed that the agency c.

Back to Health Page