Senate HHS – SB 921 relating to a prohibition on conducting an ex parte renewal of a recipient’s Medicaid eligibility

Senate Bill 921 (SB00921I.pdf) by Sparks, relating to a prohibition on conducting an ex parte renewal of a recipient's Medicaid eligibility. The bill was left pending. When Medicaid beneficiaries are up for renewal, federal regulations require that state agencies first attempt to automatically renew beneficiaries using readily available and verifiable information. These are referred to as "ex parte" renewals. To keep people enrolled in the wake of COVID-19, the Biden administration granted new waivers that allow states to conduct ex parte renewals using unreliable information. One such waiver utilized by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) allows the agency to use unverified information provided on SNAP applications as justification to automatically renew Medicaid benefits. Relying on self-attested, unverified information provided on applications for other public assistance programs opens the door for waste, fraud, and abuse in Texas Medicaid program. S.B. 921 w