Texas Medicaid Issues Facing the 86th Legislature
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This brief provides an overview of Texas Medicaid issues to be addressed in the upcoming legislative session. These include the Medicaid shortfall affecting the current biennium, a number of Medicaid Managed Care issues, Medicaid expansion to adults up to 138 of the federal poverty level (FPL), and the FY 2020-21 Legislative Appropriation Request (LAR) for Medicaid. Note that Health and Human Service agency Transformation has consolidated most of Medicaid programming into one agency - the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC).
I. Medicaid Shortfall: Current Biennium.
As indicated in HHSC’s FY 20-21 LAR, the agency will run out of Medicaid funds by May of Fiscal Year 2019. Therefore, a supplemental appropriations request includes the following unmet needs for the Medicaid program for the current biennium:
Medicaid acute care services $1527.1 million
Medicaid long term care services $82.7
Medicaid other medical services $137.9
Budget drivers creating this su