By Mary E. Nava, Bexar County Medical
Society Director of Public Affairs
AUSTIN - The Texas Health and Human Services Commission has named a 16-person committee to help the agency determine how to use new funding to make it easier for children with Medicaid coverage to get medical and dental checkups.
The Legislature approved $150 million for fiscal years 2008-2009 budget period for strategic initiatives to expand children’s access to Medicaid services. The new funding is part of a $1.8 billion plan in response to the Frew v. Hawkins lawsuit over utilization of preventive services in children’s Medicaid.
“The Texas Medicaid program covers more than two million children – or one out of every three kids in Texas,” said Texas Health and Human Services Executive Commissioner Albert Hawkins. “It’s important that the families of these children understand the services provided by Medicaid and know how to get checkups and dental care to help children stay healthy.
“We’re bringing together 16 health-care experts to help develop a plan for new initiatives to reach families,” Hawkins said. “The committee members have both the knowledge and passion to help make sure children get quality care and services.”
The 16 members of the Frew Advisory Committee are:
• Dr. Jane Rider, a pediatrician from San Angelo, will chair the Frew Advisory Committee. Dr. Rider is a past president of the Texas Pediatric Society, the current chair of the society’s Subcommittee on Medicaid, and the vice chair of the Texas Medical Association’s Select Committee on Medicaid.
• Dr. Jose Luis Cazares, Jr., a McAllen dentist, is a vice president of the Texas Dental Association and the 2005 recipient of the Texas Academy of General Dentistry President’s Leadership Award.
• Rudy Davila of San Antonio is vice president of Davila Pharmacy and a member of the Texas Pharmacy Association.
• Anne Dunkelberg of Austin is associate director of the Center for Public Policy Priorities. She has served on the Governor’s Medicaid Reform Workgroup and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Covering Kids and Families Project.
• Dr. Catherine Flaitz is dean of the University of Texas Dental Branch at Houston. She was named the 2005 Texas Dentist of the Year by the Texas Academy of General Dentistry and was named one of America’s Top Dentists in 2005 by the Consumer’s Research Council of America.
• Dr. Glenn Flores of Southlake is director of pediatrics at UT Southwestern and Children’s Medical Center in Dallas. In 2006, he was honored with an Outstanding Achievement Award by the American Academy of Pediatrics and a Health Leadership Award from the National Hispanic Medical Association.
• Dr. Marc Hahn of Fort Worth is senior vice president for health affairs and dean of the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine at the University of North Texas Health Science Center. He is chair of the board of directors of the University of North Texas Physicians Group and a former Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow.
• Dr. John Hellerstedt of Austin is medical director for the Dell Children’s Hospital and previously served as the medical director for Texas Medicaid and the Chil-dren’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). He recently was honored with a Child Advocacy Award by the Texas Pediatric Society.
• Charles Kight of San Antonio is the president of Community First Health Plans, a managed care organization that serves people with Medicaid and CHIP coverage. He is a member of the executive committee of the Texas Association of Health Plans and the San Antonio Health Literacy Initiative Board.
• Brent Magers of Lubbock is associate dean of the Texas Tech University Health Science Center’s School of Medicine. For more than a decade, Magers was president of Harris Methodist Walls Regional Hospital, which earned the Texas Health Care Quality Improvement Award from the Texas Medicaid Foundation.
• Dr. Thomas C. Mayes of Shavano Park is chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. He has been honored among the Texas Super Doctors for the past two years by Texas Monthly.
• Dr. Charles Phillips of College Station is a professor in the School of Rural Public Health at the Texas A&M Health Science Center. He specializes in long-term care policy and health services research, and his current pro-jects include developing a comprehensive assessment for use with children who receive nursing or personal care services through Medicaid.
• Dr. Kenneth Shine of Austin is executive vice chancellor for health affairs for the University of Texas System. He serves as a senior advisor to Task Force for Access to Health Care in Texas, which produced the Code Red report on access to health care and health insurance in Texas.
• Dr. William Steinhauer of San Antonio is a pediatric dentist who has served patients with Medicaid coverage for 21 years. He is chair of the Dental Division at CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Children’s Hospital and a former president of the Texas Academy of Pediatric Dentistry.
• Mary Katherine Stout of Austin is the vice president of policy and director of the Texas Public Policy Founda-tion’s Center for Health Care Policy Studies. She also is a former policy analyst for health and human services for the Texas Legislative Council.
• Dr. David S. Wilbanks of El Paso is an orthodontist with more than 30 years of experience. He also is a former president ofCAthe Texas Dental Association.
