The Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) has secured $984 million to support private hospitals throughout the state, Gov. Greg Abbott said in an Aug. 17 press release from his office.
“Texans across the state will now have greater access to the healthcare services they need with this additional annual funding,” said Governor Abbott. “I applaud the Texas Health and Human Services Commission for their tireless work in securing approval from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for Texas’ plan to fund hundreds of private hospitals, providing crucial care to millions of Texans. Working together, we will ensure Texans in rural and border communities have the healthcare access they need and deserve for generations to come,” Abbott said in the release.
Of the total, $875 million is a result of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) approval of the state’s request to amend its Medicaid plan to allow payments to privately owned or operated hospitals for Texas Medicaid clients. The remaining $109 million will be for Medicaid Graduate Medical Education (GME) supplemental payments to teaching hospitals, the release said.
“We value our partnerships with these safety net providers across the state and know this funding will have a positive impact in Texas communities,” HHSC Executive Commissioner Cecile Young said in the release.
“I thank HHSC for securing this investment to expand access to crucial healthcare for Texans in every community,” Abbott said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. The governor’s office said that on Aug. 15 CMS approved the GME program retroactively to April 1, 2019, and the HARP program retroactively to October 1, 2021.
