Healthcare Legislative & Governmental Issues
Our Healthcare attorneys work closely with our renowned Legislative team to represent the interests of healthcare clients on matters pending before the Texas Legislature and various state and federal regulatory agencies. We assist clients with regulatory and legislative analysis, strategic planning, legislature and agency advocacy, and defining healthcare public policy goals.
Effective state representation is about relationships and cultivating trust. Our Legislative practice group’s reputation is unparalleled and with over a century of advocating for legislative change, the team has longstanding relationships with high-level political officials and commissioners. Our experience and the relationships we have fostered help to protect and advance the interests of our clients in their business endeavors, particularly in the rapidly changing and highly-regulated healthcare industry.
With an unparalleled knowledge of the legislative process and key players, we help clients achieve their policy goals—whether during the legislative session with a priority piece of legislation or a budgetary need, or in the interim during the agency rulemaking process. We work closely with healthcare clients to draft and track proposed legislation. We monitor proposed rules and regulations and work with elected and appointed leaders in the Texas Legislature, Governor’s Office, and various state agencies to ensure our Healthcare attorneys and clients are informed on the proper interpretation of implemented regulations and apprised of legislative changes on the horizon.
Our relationships with members of the legislative and executive branches of state government are both personal and professional. We have a solid reputation for implementing winning strategies, and a thorough understanding of the intricacies of the legislative process—working with leaders of both major political parties, and finding solutions where others only see problems.
- Represented healthcare professionals in passage of legislation affecting regulation of and participation in managed care organizations.
- Advocated for and secured increases in Medicaid funding for ICF-IID, Class, HCS and foster care programs, children’s hospitals and rural hospitals, the nursing home and home healthcare industries, vendor drug program, and other healthcare providers.
- Represented hospital clients in legislation to expand the use of telemedicine and telehealth.
- Represented healthcare professionals in the Sunset Commission’s review of their professional licensing board.
- Represented hospital clients in passage of legislation creating the legal structure for a “local provider participation fund” in a county not served by a hospital district or a public hospital to provide a mechanism for rural areas to collect revenue to help cover healthcare costs.
- Represented advanced practice registered nurses in passage of legislation related to prescriptive authority and clinical privileges.
- Secured passage of legislation related to the continuing education, licensure, regulation and reimbursement of and referrals to occupational therapists.
- Advocated for and secured funding to help address the nursing shortage crisis In Texas.
- Advocated for and helped pass legislation to require the development and use of a single prior authorization form for pharmaceuticals.
- Ensured the continued recognition in Texas of competency-based nursing education through the passage of legislation.
- Sought and helped pass legislation requiring school district policies for students at risk of anaphylaxis.
- Represented clients with contracts to deter fraud in welfare programs.
- Secured passage of legislation to require ERS to make TRICARE recipients who are state employees aware of the availability of supplemental insurance.
- Advocated for and secured funding increases for family violence services and the Battering Intervention Prevention Program.
- Assisted hospital system in recouping Medicaid payments.
December 14, 2023
Speaking Engagements
Jeffrey Frost Presents “Medical Staff Counsel Unplugged”
On December 13, 2023, Jackson Walker partner Jeffrey H. Frost led a webinar for the Texas Society for Medical Service Specialists (TSMSS), where he shared insights from his 15 years of experience as in-house counsel overseeing a medical staff program for a health system comprising 25 hospitals, medical staffs, 5,000 aligned physicians, and numerous surgery centers.
October 17, 2023
Insights
Texas Attorney General Opinion Finds That Governor’s Emergency Executive Orders Have “The Force and Effect of Law,” Including Criminal Penalties
On September 10, 2021, Williamson County Attorney Dee Hobbs requested an “expedited” ruling from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in response to his question of whether executive orders issued by Abbott in response to the COVID-19 pandemic should be “criminally enforceable,” including against public servants who violate the orders. Just over two years later – on September 14, 2023 – he received this reply.
By Kate Goodrich
August 9, 2023
Podcasts
Nick Diamond on Increased Transparency for Cosmetics Industry
JW Fast Takes Podcast | ~7.5 minutes
Congress in late 2022 largely expanded the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s authority to regulate cosmetics companies. In this episode, Nick Diamond discusses key provisions of the Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act and what the new law means for the cosmetics industry and consumers.
July 13, 2023
Insights
Summary of HB 3359: Changes to Preferred Provider Benefit Plans
By Jeffrey H. Frost
HB 3359 amends Chapter 1301 of the Texas Insurance Code. Chapter 1301 sets forth the legal requirements and obligations of a “preferred provider benefit plan”. A “preferred provider benefit plan” is a benefit plan in which an insurer provides, through its health insurance policy, for the payment of a level of coverage that is different from the basic level of coverage provided by the health insurance policy if the insured person uses a preferred provider.
April 4, 2023
Speaking Engagements
Jeffrey Frost to Discuss Preparing for the End of the Public Health Emergency
Jackson Walker partner Jeffrey H. Frost will join a panel discussion covering the end of the public health emergency (PHE) and the associated waivers. Jeff will be joined by fellow panelists Rick L. Hindmand (McDonald Hopkins) and Matthew K. Loughran (Reed Smith).
January 3, 2023
Mentions
Texas Legislation to Watch in Early 2023: Open Records Issues and Nursing Shortage
In a Law360 article discussing key issues that Texas lawmakers may address in 2023, Jackson Walker partners Stacy Allen and Denise Rose shared insight on efforts to restrict public records access and the workforce shortage in the hospital industry.
December 19, 2022
Insights
Is Your Health System Prepared for the Expiration of the Federal and State COVID-19 Public Health Emergency?
The current extension of the COVID-19 Federal Public Health Emergency (PHE) is set to expire January 11, 2023, and no termination notice has been provided. While the PHE will likely extend through April 11, 2023, it will likely expire sometime in 2023. Here are three steps that health systems and hospitals can take now to ensure compliance should the emergency waivers expire.
June 28, 2022
Insights
U.S. Supreme Court to Decide Standard for DOJ Dismissal of Qui Tam Cases
By Laura M. Kidd Cordova & Jennifer S. Freel
Does the federal government have the authority to dismiss a False Claims Act (FCA) suit after initially declining to intervene? And what standard should courts apply to a government motion to dismiss a whistleblower suit? On June 21, 2022, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in United States, ex rel. Polansky v. Executive Health Resources, Inc., a case examining whether the U.S. Department of Justice – after declining to prosecute a qui tam action – has the authority to dismiss the action, and if so, what standard applies to the motion to dismiss.
August 18, 2021
Podcasts
Navigating Potential COVID Relief and Healthcare Fraud Issues
~10 minutes | With a dense thicket of regulations to comply with, businesses may trigger a governmental investigation if they are not familiar with the complex and changing rules and regulations surrounding COVID relief funds, particularly in the healthcare sector. In this interview about the Department of Justice’s crackdown on fraud, Arthur Gollwitzer discusses how businesses can protect themselves and what to do when approached by the authorities.
August 9, 2021
Mentions
How Texas Is Protecting Healthcare Workers Fighting COVID-19 | D Magazine
With the Pandemic Liability Protection Act in effect, Denise Rose spoke with D Magazine about the protections afforded to physicians and other health care workers treating patients who have tested positive for COVID-19.
- Medicaid and Medicare
- Hospital financing
- Telemedicine/Telehealth
- Higher education formula funding
- Sunset reviews of state agencies
- State appropriations process
- Healthcare practice issues
- Public health policy
- Scope of practice
- Graduate medical education
- Long-term care
