The following information was obtained from the September 16 issue of the Texas Register:
Public Notice
HHSC intends to submit transmittal number 11-045 to the Texas State Plan for Medical Assistance, which would limit payments for Medicare Part B services provided to dual eligibles to no more than the Medicaid payment amount for the same service, with the exception of dialysis services. See the Texas Register for more information.
Proposed Rules
The Texas Medical Board proposed changes to several sections of the code:
Licensure (Among other things, changes current graduate medical training requirement for foreign medical school graduates from three year to two to obtain a license.)
Reinstatement And Reissuance (The board “may not grant reinstatement or reissuance of a license to a licensee who has received a felony conviction in relation to sexual abuse against a child”)
Postgraduate Training Permits (“A postgraduate training program director does not have to report to the Texas Medical Board if a program participant is on leave…based on military leave or family leave not related to the PIT holder’s medical condition”)
Temporary And Limited Licenses (Among other things, “provides that two rather than three years practicing under a faculty temporary license shall be the equivalent of two years of postgraduate training for the purpose of full licensure”)
Surgical Assistants (Among other things, “establishes an expedited licensure process for applicants who are military spouses”)
Office-Based Anesthesia Services (Among other things, “changes the term ‘Basic Cardiac Life Support’ to ;Basic Life Support (BLS)’, consistent with the definitions promulgated by the American Heart Association”)
Adopted Rules
HHSC adopted amendments to §355.8065, Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH), which reflects the federal DSH audit rule published in the Federal Register on December 19, 2008, as 42 C.F.R. §447.299(c) and (d) and 42 C.F.R. §§455.300 through 455.304, to satisfy requirements set out in Social Security Act §1923(j).
HHSC also adopts an amendment to §355.8441, Reimbursement Methodologies for Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment Services, to allow publicly owned mobile dental units and clinics to receive additional federal funding through supplemental payments for Medicaid fee-for-service dental claims.
For details about each rule change, see the Texas Register.