EDINBURG, Texas – Driscoll Children’s Hospital CEO Eric Hamon praised state Senator Juan Hinojosa for leading the fight against radical changes to Texas’ Medicaid procurement process.
If the proposed changes are implemented by the Health & Human Services Commission, they would result in Driscoll Health Plan being excluded from the process. As a result, Driscoll would be unable to provide health care through its Medicaid contract in 24 South Texas counties for the first time in over 20 years.
In his speech at the official opening of Driscoll Children’s Hospital-Rio Grande Valley, Hamon deviated from the script and said:
“I’m just going to do something quick. Senator Hinojosa has been a good friend to all of us. There’s an issue that came up a few months ago, let’s say eight, nine months ago. I’ll tell you what Senator Hinojosa did before I could even get going. He took the bull by the horns and literally led the entire state of Texas on this issue,” Hamon said.
“And now they’re following his example, from Lubbock to Dallas to South Texas. So thank you, Senator, for that.”
Immediately after the proposed changes to Medicaid funding became known, Hinojosa secured the signatures of every South Texas legislator – Democrats and Republicans alike – to send a joint letter to Governor Greg Abbott and HHS Commissioner Cecile Young.
In an exclusive interview with the Rio Grande GuardianHinojosa said it is very important that Driscoll continue to serve as a Medicaid benefits broker in South Texas.
“This is very important because they are rooted in the community. They have built an infrastructure. It would be very damaging to many families and many children who need quality health care if they were excluded from care and not part of the managed care organization,” Hinojosa said.
“One quick note. Whatever decision they (the Department of Health) make will not go into effect until September 2025. We will have a meeting in January 2025. So that gives us (the legislators) the opportunity to make the necessary changes to make sure these three children’s hospitals are not excluded. Ultimately, we (the legislators) have the final say.”
The three children’s hospitals that would lose their Medicaid contracts with the state if the proposals are implemented are the Cook Children’s Health Plan in Tarrant County, the Texas Children’s Health Plan in the Harris County area and the Driscoll Health Plan in South Texas.
Pierisean’s analysis
Sean Pierisean, Driscoll’s Vice President of Development and Marketing, spoke in an interview with Guardian at the official opening of Driscoll Children’s Hospital-Rio Grande Valley.
“The state of Texas released its Medicaid procurement process in March and Driscoll Health Plan, which has been in business for over 20 years, was excluded from the process. This means Driscoll can no longer offer Medicaid insurance in the 24 counties that Driscoll serves,” Pierisean said.
“The procurement process is currently the subject of legal proceedings. Several health insurance companies are suing the state and trying to overturn the tender at this point in time.”
Like Hamon, Pierisean praised Hinojosa for his efforts to block proposed changes to the Medicaid procurement process.
“Senator Hinojosa is working closely with all of the South Texas legislators to try to overturn the law. Of course, this is a big deal here in South Texas. So legislators across the state are involved in this process, and there is a lot of talk and discussion about whether the current approach can be overturned or changed.”
When asked whether Driscoll and the other two health insurers that would be negatively affected would like legislative intervention, Pierisean said:
“Yes, that is our hope, to wait until the next legislative session. I believe the contracts should be signed by September 1st, but that will not happen due to the legal issues currently underway.
“But right now it looks like it will be pushed back to the 2025 legislative session. That would be beneficial not only for Driscoll, but also for the other health insurance companies that did not receive any bids during this procurement process.”
When asked if Driscoll was receiving support from lawmakers across the state, Pierisean said:
“We have a lot of support from legislators across the state. Our biggest concern about this whole issue is that the state has not taken into account the health insurance benefits to date when it has reviewed the health insurance plans.”
Pierisean added: “We’ve been doing this for 20 years. The reason they (the Ministry of Health) didn’t take past performance into account was because they thought it would give the incumbents an unfair advantage. So instead of looking at past performance, past results, they just did away with that completely and awarded the contracts to other companies.”
Editor’s note: Here is a video recording of the Guardian interview with Sean Pierisean:
