Dallas Morning News. May 9, 2024.
Editorial: Texas agency botched multibillion-dollar Medicaid bid
Texas Health and Human Services’ gave Aetna a boost and must start over.
In Texas, millions of low-income residents are dependent on Medicaid for their health care coverage. The care provided is crucial to Texans, especially children and expectant mothers.
That’s why it’s concerning that the state department in charge of awarding Medicaid contracts released sensitive information that could have given one insurer, Aetna, an advantage during the bidding process. Texas Health and Human Services, the agency handling the bidding process, should redo its procurement process in the interest of fairness.
Karen Brooks Harper first reported on the agency’s error in The Texas Tribune. Her reporting revealed that Texas Health and Human Services officials admitted that they erred in showing Aetna the bids of 17 other competing insurers early in the process. These contracts are worth billions of dollars, and giving one company information on the other bids is unfair to taxpayers who deserve the best deal.
It’s legal for companies to request open records to gain an advantage during the bidding process, but it’s up to the state agency to make sure that any information shared is fairly distributed. Aetna requested documents in August 2023, before the awards were announced this March. Aetna was the only insurer to have access to documents while other insurers were still making presentations to the state’s evaluation team. According to The Texas Tribune, eight insurers have filed protests to the state potentially awarding contracts to Aetna and other bidders.
The contracts last for six years at a time and will be finalized later this year. In addition to the unfair advantage given to Aetna, the list of potential winners of the bid process show a deviation from the agency’s usual preferences. Three plans affiliated with children’s hospitals were dropped from the program. That includes Cook Children’s Health Care System in Fort Worth, which has provided care for 20 years. Some insurers who are brand new to Texas’ Medicaid process were favored over long-term contracts.
For the 1.8 million Texans relying on Medicaid, that means getting dropped from their existing plan and being reassigned next year. For patients in the intensive care unit and on ventilators, avoidable changes to their treatment like this can be disruptive and possibly affect their health care.
The only way forward is for Texas Health and Human Services to throw out the results of this procurement process and start over. It wouldn’t be the first time that the agency has had to walk back the results of a bungled bidding process. Texans also deserve clarity on why agency officials released documents to just one insurer, information that should be uncovered by the state’s inspector general if it doesn’t surface in upcoming legal battles with insurers.
It’s impossible for insurers to unsee the bids of their competitors, but continuing with the results of this bidding process that was skewed in favor of one company would be a disservice to Texans.
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Fort Worth Star-Telegram. May 11, 2024.
Editorial: Stop teens from vaping? Yes. Pull them out of their classes over it? Hold on a minute
No responsible person wants kids to smoke. And that includes vaping, which is just another way to bring toxic and addictive chemicals into the lungs.
But as often happens, the zeal to prevent teenagers from vaping is creating problems of its own. In North Texas school districts, including Fort Worth, an alarming number of students are being diverted to disciplinary programs because of an overly strict state law on vaping.
The number of Fort Worth ISD kids removed from their regular classes over substance issues has skyrocketed. It’s on pace for a 2,000% increase, according to Texas Community Health News, a project of Texas State University. Several Dallas County districts have seen big increases, too, The Dallas Morning News reported.
It’s a classic case of sloppy legislating with unintended consequences. Sending schoolchildren to a disciplinary alternative education program removes them from their regular classwork, and districts such as Fort Worth that are struggling to bolster student achievement don’t need another impediment to learning. Such discipline separates them from friends, which may seem trivial but can be crucial for reducing risk of high schoolers dropping out.
Vaping can mean nicotine, but it can also mean products that include the illegal psychoactive ingredients in marijuana. Schools and law enforcement must take that kind of activity seriously.
But if the goal is to teach teenagers that vaping is harmful and that they shouldn’t bring banned items to campus, this seems like a less-than-effective approach. If addiction is a problem, they need something more akin to a drug diversion program.
The original bill offered by Rep. Ed Thompson, R-Pearland, was designed to give schools flexibility for dealing with e-cigarettes on campus. The Senate amended it to require the disciplinary action, giving districts no option but to send vastly more children into alternative schools.
The law took effect Sept. 1, and its impact was immediately clear: In-school suspensions for vaping more than doubled, the Star-Telegram reported late last year.
This may have been well-intentioned, but it’s an overreaction. When it comes to nicotine, experts generally prefer an educational approach focused on risk-awareness, which the bill also endorses. Fort Worth ISD officials told Texas Community Health News that they preferred the tougher approach to ensure that kids understand the seriousness of breaking the rules against vape devices on campus.
Discipline is important. Pulling a student from his or her regular routine sends a clear message. But it can have a disproportionate impact on economically disadvantaged students and minorities. And we’ve all heard stories of kids who are overly punished for one mistake and soon are down the road with many others, in part perhaps because of the influence of other students they encounter in disciplinary programs.
We’ve encouraged state law enforcement and regulatory agencies to take tougher steps against retailers who, thanks to loopholes and careless enforcement, can market cannabis products to teenagers. As social mores around marijuana use change, laws are slow to catch up. Many well-intentioned businesses trying to help consenting adults with legal products for issues such as post-traumatic stress or chronic pain suffer from a lax overall environment.
And while the increase in use and potency of cannabis products raises concerns, especially for young people’s health, there’s good news: Students overall are using fewer tobacco products in recent years, according to federal data. Now is not the time for Texas to interrupt that success with overly harsh punishment that disrupts teenagers’ academic progress, too.
The Legislature should reconsider the law next year and give school districts more flexibility and resources to address all kinds of youth tobacco use, along with marijuana consumption. Some cases surely deserve disciplinary removal. But let those closest to the student decide, free of a one-size-fits-all mandate.
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