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On Wednesday, a federal court in Texas stayed provisions of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (“CMS”) contract year 2025 Final Rule that amended the longstanding Medicare Advantage (“MA”) and Part D agent and broker compensation methodology and prohibited certain terms in contracts with third party marketing organizations (“TPMOs”). This decision follows two lawsuits filed against CMS and the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) arguing that the Final Rule exceeds CMS’s statutory authority, is arbitrary and capricious, and was promulgated without complying with procedural requirements.[1] The Texas federal judge stayed the effective date of the “Fixed Fee” and “Contract-Terms Restriction” (i.e., 42 C.F.R. § 422.2274(a), (c), (d), (e) and § 423.2274(a), (c), (d), (e)) of the Final Rule during the pendency of the lawsuits, and chose not to remand to the agency, instead promising an expeditious ruling on the merits at the parties’ request.Continue Reading Texas Court Stays CMS CY2025 Final Rule on Agent and Broker Compensation and Contract Term Restrictions

Texas is joining a growing number of states in passing comprehensive privacy legislation intended to safeguard consumer personal data.[1] Specifically, the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act (the “Act”) adds protections for consumers[2] and their personal data, which includes any information that is linked or reasonably linkable to an identified or identifiable individual.[3]Continue Reading Texas is Making Moves on a Comprehensive Consumer Privacy Law

Texas Governor Wants to Make Permanent Changes to Telemedicine Access

As part of his 2021 of the State address, Texas Governor, Greg Abbott, introduced his intention to permanently expand telemedicine services that were made available during the COVID-19 public health emergency (the “Pandemic”).
Continue Reading The “State” of Telehealth: Texas

The Texas Medical Board’s (the “Board”) adoption of new telehealth licensing regulations may finally put to bed long-running challenges to the state’s historically rigid position with respect to healthcare services delivered remotely via telemedicine.  As we previously reported, the Board had been embroiled in a legal dispute with Teladoc, a large, nationwide telehealth company, involving antitrust challenges and an injunction against the Board’s enforcement of its in-person examination requirement, discussed below.  The ongoing battle prompted action by the Texas legislature to enact statutory changes (Senate Bill 1107 passed last May) to eliminate the requirement that Texas physicians must conduct an in-person visit prior to issuing a prescription.  These new regulations were issued in response to the statutory change.
Continue Reading Texas Telemedicine Saga Finally Over? The Texas Medical Board Substantially Revises Telemedicine Regulations