CMS Approves DHR Health’s High Medicaid Facility Exception to Expand Care for Medicaid Patients on the Texas Border

WASHINGTON – PHA thanks CMS for following the rule of law and granting the “high Medicaid facility” expansion request to Doctors Hospital at Renaissance (DHR Health) in Texas.

Policymakers created the exception to ensure that areas serving large Medicaid populations are not handcuffed by the Affordable Care Act’s Section 6001 and prevented from providing critical care to these communities.

The approval represents the Biden Administration’s commitment to ensuring that medically underserved areas do not face limited care. PHA commends CMS for continuing to seek solutions to increase patient access and choice, especially in regions with a high Medicaid population.

PHA is disappointed that special interest lobbyists in Washington, DC, chose to offer harsh criticism of the expansion approval by CMS. At a time when policymakers are seeking solutions to offer more healthcare options to Americans, now is not the time for special interest lobbyists to protect monopolies by blocking innovative healthcare solutions. Instead, these special interest lobbyists should be seeking innovative solutions, such as physician-led healthcare options.

Ultimately, DHR Health’s expansion approval represents a “win” for patients in the Rio Grande Valley. The community will now have increased access to timely and high-quality care. 

View PHA’s initial statement on the expansion request here.