Advocacy Alert: Get HB 5274 Passed Out of Committee!

House Bill 5274 will be heard in the House Committee on Human Services Tues. April 25th at 8 AM. 

Issue:

The credentialing process to get therapists approved to provide a Medicaid benefit under a managed care organization (MCO) can take an excessive amount of time, sometimes many months to over a year.  This can lead to having a shortage of therapists to provide therapy to children and teens, creating waitlists for some therapies which causes families of children on Medicaid to have to wait many months or worse to begin therapy.

Bill:  HB 5274  Rep. John Bucy                                                  

Would allow “expedited credentialing” for Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) which allows qualified therapy providers to serve Medicaid recipients on a provisional basis while their credentialing application is pending. Read more about the bill here. 

Specific Action Needed:

Ask the House Committee on Human Services: “Please vote in favor of HB 5274! Allow expedited credentialing so children and teens with Medicaid don’t have to experience long wait times to begin therapy.”

Who to Call/Email:

Let us know if you were successful or if AST Advocacy staff need to do any follow-ups at 512-479-4199 Ext. 4 or advocacy@texasautismsociety.org.