Status Update: State Actions to Improve Access to COVID-19 Testing and Treatment—Governor Abbott, HHSC and TDI
Texas Actions Taken, and Actions Still Needed
By Melissa McChesney, Stacey Pogue and Anne Dunkelberg
NOTE: CPPP gratefully acknowledges the collaboration of Texans Care for Children and the Children’s Defense Fund Texas in compiling these best practices. On March 26, 2020, over 50 state organizations signed on to a letter requesting action from the Governor. Read the letter here.
If we are serious about saving lives in this pandemic, we must ensure that every Texan is able to access testing and treatment, without fear of economic costs. In support of that goal, CPPP submitted a memorandum of recommended policy changes to Governor Abbott, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission and the Texas Department of Insurance.
This document updates the status of those recommendations as of April 20, 2020. Text from the original memo is in black, updates since the March 23 submission are in blue font, and the most urgent remaining priorities are in red.