THCA Notes
Volume XXXI, Number 10
October 2016
State Health Agency Releases Budget Requests
A key step in the state’s budget writing process was taken this month when the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) submitted its requests for the 2018-19 biennium.
Known as a Legislative Appropriations Request (LAR), the document details the amount of funding individual agencies seek in order to perform their functions. Instructions were sent by Governor Greg Abbott and the Legislative Budget Board (LBB) that set forth the format and the measures for outlining these requests.
This summer, those instructions required each agency to cut their base appropriations by four percent because of the expected budget shortfall. Medicaid benefits and eligibility were among the items exempted from the cuts.
Nursing home payments are left flat in HHSC’s proposal though it did note that the acuity of residents is increasing. Specifically, in Fee For Service, there is an estimated monthly increase in expenditures by the state of $51.40 in FY 2018 and $72.39 in FY 2019. For Medicaid Managed Care patients, increases in acuity and cost growth are estimated in Exceptional Item, Medicaid Cost Growth which is $3.3 billion for the two years.
Rider 92 which provides transparency and accountability in Medicaid Managed Care rate setting was recommended for inclusion to the LBB.
Legislative and LBB staff members reviewed the LAR in a public hearing on September 22. The Board will now use that document to help them prepare a budget for consideration by the Legislature when it convenes in January.
President’s Report
Legislative Update
- State Health Agency Releases Budget Requests
Commitment to Care
State / THCA News
National / AHCA News
Education
- Stop Talking About Work/Life Balance! TEQ and the Millennial Generation
By Meagan Johnson