Cook Children’s celebrated the decision, which granted a temporary injunction preventing the state from changing contracts for Medicaid STAR and CHIP programs.
FORT WORTH, Texas — About 125,000 people will keep their health insurance after a Travis County Judge granted Cook Children’s a temporary injunction, the hospital announced on Facebook.
The injunction prevents the Texas Health and Human Services Commission from awarding, signing or implementing any new contracts for the Medicaid STAR and CHIP managed care programs, according to a Facebook post from Cook Children’s. Those programs primarily serve lower-income families, children with serious health complications and pregnant mothers.
This year the commission chose not to award a contract to Cook Children’s Health Plan. Instead, the commissioner awarded its regional Medicaid contracts to four, for-profit managed care organizations — Aetna, Molina, UnitedHealthcare and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas.
About 125,000 people are enrolled in Cook Children’s Health Plan. Those enrollees will need to find a new coverage plan and, potentially, new doctors.
“For more than two decades, Cook Children’s Health Plan has been a trusted provider of high-quality health care coverage to low-income families, expectant mothers, and children with complex medical needs,” Cook Children’s wrote in a statement. “We believe this ruling will help ensure that our Members continue to have access to the care they need, when they need it.”
The hospital announced it would sue the commissioner in June.
“They are taking over hundreds of thousands of lives, if this decision stands, on the basis of flawed methodology,” Cook Children’s Health Plan President Karen Love said at the time.
Love called the Commissioner’s decision an “overcorrection” to a scathing 2018 audit, which found Texas wrongly awarded $3.4 billion in Medicaid contracts because of selection process flaws, WFAA previously reported.
“We would like to express our gratitude to the court for their careful consideration of this matter and for their decision in our favor. Cook Children’s will continue to monitor the situation closely and work with all stakeholders to ensure that our Members continue to receive the best possible care,” the statement reads.
