TMA Written Testimony by Jason Terk, MD
House Committee on Insurance
Senate Bill 1037 by Sen. Larry Taylor
April 23, 2019
Thank you Mr. Chairman and committee members for allowing me to provide written testimony today. My name is Dr. Jason Terk and I am a pediatrician from Keller. I am the Chairman of the Texas Medical Association (TMA) Council on Legislation and today I am testifying on behalf of TMA and its nearly 53,000 members in opposition to Senate Bill 1037.
SB 1037 would prohibit a credit reporting agency from including on a credit report a collection account for health care services if (1) a consumer was covered by a health benefit plan at the time the out-of-network health care service was incurred; (2) the service was performed by an emergency care provider or facility-based provider; and (3) the collection was for an outstanding balance due to that provider after any applicable copayments, deductibles, and coinsurance.
Practicing medicine is our primary focus as we maintain our patient-physician relationships. Physicians do not want to report patients to credit agencies for unpaid accounts. Doing so harms our relationships with our patients. If we are successful in taking patients out of surprise billing scenarios, then credit reporting will no longer be an issue. We look forward to working Chairman Lucio, Vice Chairman Oliverson, and Representative Trey Martinez Fischer and members of this committee to achieve a fair and equitable solution.
Jason Terk, MD
Pediatrician
Chair, TMA Council on Legislation
86th Texas Legislature Letters and Testimonies
TMA Legislative main page
Last Updated On
February 09, 2023
Originally Published On
April 23, 2019