Honorable Lois W. Kolkhorst, Chair, Senate Committee on Health & Human Services
FROM:
John McGeady, Assistant Director Sarah Keyton, Assistant Director Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB25 by González, Mary (Relating to a pilot program for providing services to certain women and children under the Medicaid medical transportation program.), Committee Report 2nd House, Substituted
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill would require the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) to develop and implement a pilot program to provide Medicaid medical transportation program services to pregnant women and new mothers and the children of such women. A managed transportation organization (MTO) participating in the pilot program would be required to provide program services in a manner that does not result in additional costs.
It is assumed any administrative costs associated with developing and implementing the pilot can be absorbed within the available resources of HHSC. According to HHSC, in order to comply with the requirement in the bill prohibiting increased costs to the MTO it is assumed Medicaid would reimburse for a participating woman's transportation as it does now and that transportation for the child would be provided as a value-added service by the MTO; however, HHSC cannot require an MTO to provide value-added services and it is assumed the program would not be implemented if an MTO could not be found to offer the service at no cost.
Local Government Impact
No fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.