Texas Asks Permission to Cut Therapy Budget
Texas health officials have asked an appeals court for permission to proceed with cutting payments to a therapy program for children with disabilities — the latest development in an ongoing lawsuit over the budget state lawmakers crafted this year.
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission is seeking to override an order by state District Judge Tim Sulak in September that temporarily stopped health officials from implementing the cuts, saying the move would jeopardize children’s access to necessary care. But lawyers for the state now say Sulak overstepped his bounds and had “no statutory- or rule-based right” to keep the state from cutting payments.
State lawmakers earlier this year ordered the health commission to cut $100 million in state funding by slashing payments to speech, physical and occupational therapists through Medicaid, the federal-state insurance program for the poor and disabled. Therapy providers cried foul, saying the cuts would cause businesses to shut down and limit children's access to care, and won an early but temporary victory in district court.
Now, state health officials are hoping the 3rd Court of Appeals will nix that decision. The health commission's motion, submitted Tuesday, argues that any complaint about how Texas sets its Medicaid payments to providers is the federal government’s concern, not a state judge’s.
Read more: http://www.texastribune.org/2015/10/28/texas-asks-permission-cut-childrens-therapy-progra/
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