Battle Looms Over Upcoming Texas Medicaid Funds Cuts Paying For Disabled Kids' Therapy

AUSTIN, TX — Millions of dollars in Medicaid cuts aimed at therapy services for children with disabilities are due to take effect on Dec. 15 after a court opted not to hear a lawsuit seeking to block the move. But the Texas House Speaker has now suggested he'll work to restore funding.

In September, the Texas Supreme Court — without offering an explanation — declined to hear a lawsuit that sought to prevent the funding cuts from taking effect. The cuts were part of a broader move by the Texas Legislature that shalsed $350 million in Medicaid cuts over the course of two years — including $150 million in state funds and another $200 million in matching federal monies — intended to pay for therapists primarily serving children.

Ahead of the cuts taking effect through legislative action, health insurance companies in the state's privatized Medicaid system already implemented their own pay cuts to providers.

Lawmakers voting for the cuts justified their action by presenting data purportedly showing the state reimburses therapists at higher rates than in other states. But the legislative move drew wide opposition as critics pointed to revenue cuts for providers of up to 28 percent as a result of the reduced rates. The Medicaid reimbursement rates are used to pay for pediatric therapy.

Locally, Texans Care for Children is leading the fight in challenging the cuts. In the wake of the proposed cuts, the advocacy group issued a report showing the effects of the state cuts on pediatric care statewide.

“This is terrible news for Texas kids with disabilities and developmental delays and their families,” Stephanie Rubin, chief executive officer of Austin-based advocacy group Texans Care for Children, said previously in a prepared statement. “Kids with autism, speech delays, Down syndrome, and other disabilities and delays rely on these therapies to learn to walk, communicate with their families, get ready for school, and meet other goals.”

The group has since dedicated a telephone line to parents in need of resources to care for affected children in light of the proposed cuts who are experiencing reductions or outright ending of therapy as a result. The number is 1-800-252-9108.

But now, there is some hope across the horizon for beleaguered parents and guardians of disabled children.

In a wide-ranging discussion Tuesday with Evan Smith, the editor of Texas Tribune, Texas House Speaker Joe Straus said lawmakers will now seek to restore funding in the upcoming legislative session. In reversing the cuts, legislators would reconcile an "emotionally fraught, year-long legal battle," the Tribune noted.

"It did not work, and it will be addresssed in the supplemental budget," Straus told the Tribune. Describing the cuts passed largely by his Republican counterparts comprising the majority of the chamber as "well intentioned," he nonetheless conceded "maybe they were a mistake."

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