In the lead up to its latest First Tuesdays at the Capitol event, the Texas Medical Association testified on behalf of patients and physicians, calling to prevent the use artificial intelligence for denials in health insurance review and prior authorizations and encouraging public health efforts in the realms of dementia, nutrition, and substance use.
Providing AI guardrails
As the use of augmented and artificial intelligence accelerates across industries, Zeke Silva, MD, asked the Senate Committee on Business and Commerce to enact guardrails around the technology. Senate Bill 815 would prohibit the use of artificial intelligence to deny a prior authorization request.
“SB 815 is a necessary and timely measure that helps to protect patient access to appropriate care from being compromised by automated decision-making systems,” the San Antonio radiologist testified. “The bill strikes the right balance – it allows technology to assist in administrative functions while ensuring that adverse determinations are made by properly licensed and qualified human health care professionals.”
Dr. Silva noted other states have expediently enacted legislation similar to SB 815 to keep people from being “vulnerable to inappropriate denials and delays in care.”
Looking out for Texans
TMA registered support for Senate Bill 5, which aims to create the Dementia Prevention and Research Institute of Texas.
Toral Parikh, MD, testifying before the Senate Committee on Finance, cited Texas’ significant population growth for people 65 and older, combined with nearly 460,000 Texans diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2020, and the increased likelihood people with dementia require repeated costly hospital admissions, as an impetus to steer resources toward dementia.
“The total annual costs for health care, long-term care, and hospice care for patients with dementia were estimated to be nearly $360 billion in 2024, which is projected to increase to nearly $1 trillion by 2050,” the Austin family physician and geriatrist added.
TMA also backs Senate Bill 314, which would prohibit seven specific food additives from inclusion in free or reduced-price meals provided by school districts: brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, propylparaben, azodicarbonamide, butylated hydroxyanisole, red dye No. 3, and titanium dioxide.
Testimony of substance
TMA also supports efforts in the Senate to better regulate the sales of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) products and nitrous oxide.
Houston pediatrician Lindy McGee, MD, also representing the Texas Pediatric Society (TPS), provided testimony on Senate Bill 3, addressing the importance of protecting youth from accidental ingestion of THC.
“Many of these products come in sweet flavors and forms like gummies, candy, chocolate, or baked goods, often packaged in brightly colored, appealing, and easy-to-open containers that children can access and accidentally ingest,” per her March 3 testimony. “According to the Texas Poison Center Network, there were 544 calls last year seeking help to treat children 5 years and younger exposed to THC products.”
TMA thanked the Senate Committee on State Affairs for upholding the Texas Compassionate Use Act and continuing to regulate low-THC cannabis, supporting physician medical guidance and consultation in providing care to patients, while voicing concern around “the risks associated with patients self-medicating with untested THC products.”
Kyle pediatrician Marjan Linnell, MD, testified in support of Senate Bill 666 on behalf of both TMA and TPS. The bill would prohibit the sale of nitrous oxide to customers below the age of 21, as it can be inhaled recreationally to create a high. This use bears dangerous risks medicine seeks to curtail.
Involving physicians
Physicians not only testified before committees in the Senate but gathered in the hundreds to meet with legislators at a robust First Tuesdays at the Capitol event on March 4. More than 250 member physicians, medical students, and TMA Alliance members converged at the state Capitol to share their personal experiences with issues facing the legislature: state budget allotments, scope of practice expansion, prior authorization, Medicaid payment, and more.
Read more about TMA’s ongoing advocacy at the Capitol, and join your peers at First Tuesdays at the Capitol April 1 and May 6.
Phil West
Associate Editor
(512) 370-1394
phil.west[at]texmed[dot]org
Phil West is a writer and editor whose publications include the Los Angeles Times, Seattle Times, Austin American-Statesman, and San Antonio Express-News. He earned a BA in journalism from the University of Washington and an MFA from the University of Texas at Austin’s James A. Michener Center for Writers. He lives in Austin with his wife, children, and a trio of free-spirited dogs.