House Select Committee on Health Care Affordability

Jurisdiction

The committee is established to provide a cross-jurisdictional forum to comprehensively examine factors impacting health care affordability in Texas. The committee shall:

1. Evaluate health care cost drivers, including statutory, regulatory and administrative burdens, and the impact of fraud, waste, and abuse;
2. Study potential improvements to the delivery system and emerging financing models that reduce the cost of health care;
3. Evaluate the impact insurance design, cost sharing, market structure, and payment policies have on consumers and employers. Consider opportunities to encourage flexibility and innovation in plan design to improve affordability while maintaining access to quality care;
4. Identify options that eliminate barriers for small and mid-size employers to offer health care coverage;
5. Examine the impact of consolidation on patient choice, market competition, and price and value in health care services;
6. Review the level of consumer transparency in health care markets to ensure consumers have access to clear, accurate, and actionable information on prices, benefits, and out-of-pocket costs. Recommend ways to improve consumer engagement and encourage opportunities to evaluate the cost and quality of health care; and

Review the implementation of prior legislation and other legislative efforts to reduce the price of health care and make recommendations to support and improve their effectiveness.

Source: Rules of the Texas House of Representatives, 89th Legislature.

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