Experts predict that legislative redistricting and budget stretching will dominate the 72nd session of the Texas Legislature, convening January 8 in Austin. In the midst of those debates, Texas physicians will mount an all-out effort to push health-related issues to the top of the lawmakers' agenda. Most important among those issues is restoring access to health care and health insurance. Here's a look at what happens when medicine meets politics.

Legislation, Medical↗

PubMed1989

Lobbyists on guard in midst of chaos.

The legislative process in Texas more than once has been described as organized chaos. For 140 days every other year, 181 lawmakers, hundreds of legislative staff and agency officials, and scores of lobbyists draft, debate, enact, or defeat thousands of individual bills. Lobbyists representing Texas Medical Association are among the most active and influential in the process. In this article, TMA Public Relations Assistant Ken Ortolon describes a lobbyist's hectic day.

Health Services↗

PubMed1989

71st legislature produces bills that improve health care in Texas.

The 71st Texas Legislature adjourned May 29, ending what was an extremely successful session for the Texas Medical Association. During the 140-day session, TMA tracked more than 600 individual bills and secured passage of major legislation addressing rural health care, Medicaid enhancement, medical liability reform, and other measures to improve the quality of health care and the practice of medicine. TMA also was successful in blocking passage of legislation that might have lowered the quality of care. As this issue of Texas Medicine was going to press, Gov Bill Clements was threatening to veto the rural health care bill, House Bill 18. That issue was a possible agenda item for the special session Clements called for June 20. The special session was called specifically to deal with workers compensation reform, an issue the lawmakers failed to resolve during the regular session. This article, prepared by Ken Ortolon, public relations assistant, and the TMA Public Affairs staff, lists some of the issues TMA was involved in during the 71st session and their outcomes.

Legislation, Medical↗