Letter To CMS
Uploaded by
The TexanLetter To CMS
Uploaded by
The TexanAugust 11, 2022
The Honorable Chiquita Brooks-LaSure
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
7500 Security Boulevard
Baltimore, Maryland, 21244
Dear Mrs. Brooks-LaSure,
We, the undersigned members of the Texas House, are writing to request your administration’s reconsideration of
Texas’ application for extending postpartum health coverage for new mothers in our state.
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission has said it was recently notified by your agency that the state’s
current plan to extend postpartum coverage is “not approvable.” The failure to approve our application would be a
major setback for Texas as a large, bipartisan coalition of lawmakers at our state Capitol have sought to better support
hundreds of thousands of new mothers, children and families — and such a decision will put the care and needs of
those Texans at risk.
One of our top objectives in the Texas House has been to make maternal health care efforts and resources a priority
of both the most recent and upcoming regular legislative sessions. These efforts have broad, bipartisan support among
Texas House lawmakers, in addition to carrying the support of House Speaker Dade Phelan, who has made maternal
health a cornerstone of his “Healthy Families, Healthy Texas” policy initiative. We will continue to prioritize
legislation that accomplishes these goals when the Legislature reconvenes for its biennial session in January.
During the 2021 regular legislative session, the Legislature took an important first step to extend postpartum coverage
for new moms from 60 days to six months. The Texas House will again prioritize passing a 12-month coverage
extension during the 88th Legislature — just as we successfully passed in our chamber during the most recent regular
legislative session — along with other proposals to make meaningful improvements in support of Texas moms,
children and families.
If a formal decision is made to deny Texas’ application, it will not have an immediate impact on new Texas mothers
so long as the federal public health emergency remains in place. We remain hopeful that you will reconsider your
decision and work with our state to achieve approval so that women enrolled in Texas Medicaid will continue to
receive critical postpartum care. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Dade Phelan
Speaker of the Texas House of Rep. Alma Allen, District 131 Rep. Steve Allison, District 121
Representatives
Rep. Charles “Doc” Anderson,
Rep. Rafael Anchia, District 103 District 56 Rep. Trent Ashby, District 57
Rep. Michelle Beckley, District 65
Rep. Ernest Bailes, District 18
Rep. Greg Bonnen, District 24
Rep. Keith Bell, District 4 Rep. Diego Bernal, District 123
Rep. Rhetta Bowers, District 113 Rep. Brad Buckley, District 54 Rep. John Bucy III, District 136
Rep. Dewayne Burns, District 58 Rep. Dustin Burrows, District 83 Rep. Angie Chen Button, District
112
Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, District
Rep. Elizabeth “Liz” Campos, District Rep. Terry Canales, District 40 98
119
Rep. Travis Clardy, District 11 Rep. Sheryl Cole, District 46 Rep. Nicole Collier, District 95
Rep. David Cook, District 96 Rep. Phillip Cortez, District 117 Rep. Tom Craddick, District 82
Rep. Jasmine Crockett, District 100 Rep. John Cyrier, District 17 Rep. Drew Darby, District 72
Rep. Jay Dean, District 7 Rep. Alex Dominguez, District 37 Rep. Harold Dutton, District 142
Rep. Art Fierro, District 79 Rep. James Frank, District 69 Rep. John Frullo, District 84
Rep. Erin Gamez, District 38 Rep. Gary Gates, District 28 Rep. Charlie Geren, District 99
Rep. Barbara Gervin-Hawkins,
Rep. Craig Goldman, District 97 Rep. Mary Gonzalez, District 75
District 120
Rep. Jessica Gonzales, District 104 Rep. Vikki Goodwin, District 47 Rep. Bobby Guerra, District 41
Rep. Ryan Guillen, District 31 Rep. Sam Harless, District 126 Rep. Cody Harris, District 8
Rep. Cole Hefner, District 5 Rep. Ana Hernandez, District 143 Rep. Gina Hinojosa, District 49
Rep. Justin Holland, District 33 Rep. Donna Howard, District 48 Rep. Dan Huberty, District 127
Rep. Lacey Hull, District 138 Rep. Celia Israel, District 50
Rep. Todd Hunter, District 32
Rep. Jacey Jetton, District 26 Rep. Ann Johnson, District 134 Rep. Jarvis Johnson, District 139
Rep. Julie Johnson, District 115 Rep. Jolanda “Jo” Jones, District 147 Rep. Ken King, District 88
Rep. Tracy King, District 80 Rep. Stephanie Klick, District 91 Rep. Matt Krause, District 93
Rep. John Kuempel, District 44 Rep. Stan Lambert, District 71 Rep. Brooks Landgraf, District 81
Rep. Lyle Larson, District 122 Rep. Jeff Leach, District 67 Rep. Ben Leman, District 13
Rep. Oscar Longoria, District 35 Rep. J.M. Lozano, District 43
Rep. Ray Lopez, District 125
Rep. John Lujan, District 118 Rep. Armando “Mando” Martinez,
Rep. Trey Martinez-Fischer, District District 39
116
Rep. Will Metcalf, District 16 Rep. Morgan Meyer, District 108
Rep. Ina Minjarez, District 124
Rep. Terry Meza, District 105
Rep. Joe Moody, District 78 Rep. Christina Morales, District 145 Rep. Eddie Morales, District 74
Rep. Penny Morales Shaw, District Rep. Geanie Morrison, District 30 Rep. Jim Murphy, District 133
148
Rep. Victoria Neave Criado, District Rep. Candy Noble, District 89
Rep. Andy Murr, District 53 107
Rep. Tom Oliverson, District 130 Rep. Lina Ortega, District 77
Rep. Claudia Ordaz Perez, District 76
Rep. Tan Parker, District 63 Rep. Jared Patterson, District 106 Rep. Dennis Paul, District 129
Rep. Mary Ann Perez, District 144 Rep. Four Price, District 87 Rep. Ana-Maria Ramos, District 102
Rep. Richard Peña Raymond, District Rep. Ron Reynolds, District 27
Rep. John Raney, District 14 42
Rep. Eddie Rodriguez, District 51 Rep. Glenn Rogers, District 60 Rep. Ramon Romero Jr., District 90
Rep. Toni Rose, District 110 Rep. Jon Rosenthal, District 135 Rep. Matt Shaheen, District 66
Rep. Carl Sherman, District 109
Rep. Hugh Shine, District 55 Rep. Shelby Slawson, District 59
Rep. David Spiller, District 68
Rep. Reggie Smith, District 62 Rep. John Smithee, District 86
Rep. James Talarico, District 52
Rep. Lynn Stucky, District 64 Rep. Shawn Thierry, District 146
Rep. Ed Thompson, District 29
Rep. Senfronia Thompson, Rep. Chris Turner, District 101
District 141
Rep. Gary VanDeaver, District 1 Rep. Cody Vasut, District 25
Rep. John Turner, District 114
Rep. Armando Walle, District 140 Rep. Terry Wilson, District 20
Rep. James White, District 19
Rep. Eugene Wu, District 137 Rep. Erin Zwiener, District 45 Rep. Abel Herrero, District 34
CC: The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C., 20500
