Emails, state Rep. Sarah Davis, Aug. 18, 2017
3:36 p.m.
See below, and let me know if you need anything else.
Thx,
Sarah
On Aug 18, 2017, at 2:48 PM, Selby, Gardner (CMG-Austin) wrote:
Rep. Davis:
Good afternoon.
I write on behalf of the fact-checking PolitiFact Texas project based at the Austin American-Statesman as we research progress on this Greg Abbott campaign promise.
I see that House Bill 2466, which you authored, was signed into law in June. It looks to me like it provides for mothers giving birth under Medicaid or CHIP to qualify for a mental health screening in the first year after delivery. It doesn’t look to me like treatment is covered.
A few questions:
Am I getting this right?
Yes, that's correct. HB 2466 doesn't cover treatment, just screening and referral for up to 1 year after the birth of the child.
If so, did legislation to cover screenings plus treatment win consideration in the 2017 session?
Not that I am aware of.
Any other considerations you recommend as we evaluate progress on this promise?
The Healthy Texas Women program includes PPD treatment as one of the benefits available, but funds are quite limited. I can't confirm or deny that there are any women receiving treatment through HTW for PPD. (www.healthytexaswomen.org)
On Aug 18, 2017, at 3:56 PM, Selby, Gardner (CMG-Austin) wrote:
...
Your mention of the Healthy Texas Women program reminded me I am confused about the significance of the bill you authored.
An HHSC spokeswoman, Kelli Weldon, told me by email in June that the program, which is open to low-income women through age 44 who also lack insurance coverage for family planning services, already provides postpartum depression screenings and treatment. She added: “Office visits for diagnostic evaluation, and basic follow-up and monitoring of treatment response, are covered. For those who require more intensive services, providers are requested to refer the patient to local behavioral health care providers,” Weldon said, adding that women giving birth under Medicaid are automatically enrolled in the HTW program 60 days after delivery.
All of what she shared left me uncertain what the new law will be adding as far as available post-delivery mental health screenings and treatment coverage.
…
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W. Gardner Selby
Reporter / News
Austin American-Statesman
PolitiFact Texas
4:29 p.m.
I would say the significance is delivery. My bill links the benefit of the assessment to the child and is delivered in the pediatrician's office...The location that, all the data I read, showed women were more likely to follow up for treatment if screened when they are with baby as opposed to their OB/GYN. Not uncommon for women to put their own health on the back burner for their kids. But my bill requires the pediatrician to do the screening if mom consents. Poor women are slipping through the cracks of the old system. I have serious doubts that any significant number of women are being screened for PPD in HTW. (HTW is the mess we are left with after cutting $ for women's health and kicking Planned Parenthood out of the women's health provider network.).
I would have loved to put $ in for treatment, but just wasn't possible in this budget cycle.
On Aug 18, 2017, at 5:03 PM, Selby, Gardner (CMG-Austin) wrote:
Interesting. Are you basically saying the legislation did not step up access other than to shift where an eligible mother would be screened? My apology for not picking up on this.
5:07 p.m.
Oh no. I think my bill will absolutely increase access. It's now a required benefit delivered in the right environment.
On Aug 18, 2017, at 5:14 PM, Selby, Gardner (CMG-Austin) wrote:
So, there is a new funded benefit?
5:17 p.m.
Yes, the screening is a new benefit in the CHIP and Medicaid programs. The bill doesn't also include treatment because I couldn't get the funding in the budget.