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Texas District By District: Jim McReynolds
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Jim McReynolds has
been a public schoolteacher, a professor at Stephen F. Austin
University, a farmer, and was honorably discharged from the Marine
Corps with the rank of sergeant. He is founder and member of Project
Belize, a nonprofit organization that supplies doctors and support
staff to Central America to improve health care. He is also a
cofounder and former board chairman of the East Texas Community
Health Services, Inc., a federally qualified indigent health care
provider in East Texas. |
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Jim has served in the Texas Legislature
from 1997 to the present on a variety of committees including Human
Services, Public Health, Appropriations, Juvenile Justice, Local
Ways and Means, Agriculture, Corrections and a host of select
committees including the Longterm Care Oversight Committee. He
currently serves on Public Health and Calendars and chairs the
Corrections Committee.
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This Week In Texas: Mignon
McGarry Memos
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By Mignon McGarry
TOA Legislative Advocate
TOA Online Version: All Memos
May 27,
2009, Wednesday
After a record five days of deep discussion or "chubbing" of
bills set on a House Local Calendar, time expired in the
House with regard to |
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passing Senate bills on second
reading at midnight last night. Measures currently without
another home include Sunset bills for the Department of
Insurance and the Texas Youth Commission; bills to address
problems concerning windstorm insurance, electric co-ops,
unemployment insurance; and yes, the bill to require voters
to show identification at the polls. Meanwhile, the Texas
Senate has been working fast and furious, creating "Christmas
trees" or bills with many additional measures tacked on.
The Senate has until midnight tonight to take up House bills
on second or third reading.
Many unanswered questions remain during these last six days
of the 81st Legislative Session. Will the House try to
resurrect dead bills with a two-thirds vote to the calendar
deadlines that have passed? Will the Senate continue to try
to save the day by adding seemingly unrelated measures to
any bill still moving through the process? Will Governor
Perry call a special session and if so, when will it be and
what topics will be covered?
Some big ticket items remain alive and well and must be
dealt with during the waning days of session. Senate Bill
1, the proposed state budget for the next biennium has
gone to print and is eligible for debate in both chambers
tomorrow afternoon. House Bill 300, the Sunset
legislation to continue the Texas Department of
Transportation has passed both chambers and the conference
committee could be named as soon as this afternoon. House
Bill 51, a bill to create two funds and an incentive
research program to help develop the new research
universities in Texas is also expected to go to a conference
committee. Conference committee reports must be approved by
both chambers by midnight on Sunday, May 31st.
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Healthcare Reform Talk Ramps
Up; AAOS Responds to Senate Finance Committee Report on Policy
Options
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As previously
reported, the AAOS continues to work with the Senate Finance
Committee, led by Chair Max Baucus (D-MT) and Ranking Member Charles
Grassley (R-IA). To address the myriad issues encompassed by
healthcare reform, Chairman Baucus has organized his effort into
three arenas of healthcare: (1) Delivery System Reform; (2)
Approaches in Increasing Insurance Coverage; and (3) Financing
Options for Healthcare Reform. |
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Delivery System Reform. The Senate
Finance Committee held a roundtable on delivery system reform and
subsequently issued a corresponding policy options paper on April
28, 2009. The AAOS, in two separate efforts, provided feedback to
the Senate Finance Committee. The AAOS submitted comments in
coordination with the larger surgical community. To view these
comments, please click
here. In addition, the AAOS also submitted comments with the
Alliance of
Specialty Medicine. To view these comments, please click
here. The deadline for comments was May 15, 2009.
For more information on the contents of the delivery options paper,
see the
May 5, 2009 edition of AAOS Advocacy NOW.
Coverage. On May 11, 2009, Chair Baucus released the second policy
options paper, this one on options for expanding coverage. The
document places an emphasis on preventive care and wellness programs
in Medicare. It also proposes a Web-based "Health Insurance
Exchange," which would help consumers find coverage in their area.
Additionally, the paper offers several options for increased public
healthcare coverage, including a "Medicare-like" program, a public
plan run through regional third-party administrators, a state-run
public healthcare plan, or "expanding coverage through a reformed
and better regulated market."
The AAOS continues to analyze the document and will submit comments.
To view the coverage policy options paper, visit the Senate Finance
Committee web site by clicking
here.
Financing. On May 18, 2009, AAOS Office of Government Relations
staff met with staff of the Senate Finance Committee on the release
of the third policy options paper. This paper, focusing on the
financing, addresses savings and revenue options for funding
healthcare reform efforts. The options outline several tax
provisions including modifying or repealing tax deductions for
medical expenses and increasing or implementing so-called "sin
taxes" on alcohol, tobacco, or sugar-sweetened beverages.
To view the financing policy options paper, visit the Senate Finance
Committee web site. Chairman Baucus is accepting comments on the
financing options paper through the end of May.
While the Senate Finance Committee has taken a lead role in setting
the agenda for healthcare reform, other Senate and House committees
continue to engage in the reform debate:
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On May 12, 2009, the House Energy and
Commerce's Health Subcommittee, led by Chairman Frank Pallone Jr.
(D-NJ) and Ranking Member Nathan Deal (R-GA) held a hearing to
discuss The Medical Device Safety Act Of 2009 (HR 1346).
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On May 14, 2009, The Senate Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, led by Chairman Ted
Kennedy (D-MA) and Ranking Member Mike Enzi (R-WY), held a hearing
titled "Delivery Reform: The Roles of Primary and Specialty Care in
Innovative New Delivery Models."
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CMS Releases FY 2010 IPPS Proposed Rule; AAOS
Council on Advocacy's Health Care Systems Committee to Work With CMS
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The Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the FY 2010 Hospital
Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) proposed rule on Friday,
May 1, 2009. The rule can be found on the CMS Web site (click
here), until it is
published in the Federal Register. For more |
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information, see the AAOS in-depth summary of the proposed IPPS rule by clicking
here. The AAOS Council on Advocacy's Health Care Systems
Committee will be working with CMS to provide clinical guidance and
input on the policies affecting orthopaedic surgeons and their
patients.
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