Proposed changes to state Medicaid plans could shake up health coverage for 1.8 million low-income Texans [Video]

TEXAS — Texas health officials are poised to drop the state’s three largest nonprofit children’s health plans from multibillion-dollar Medicaid and children’s health insurance contracts – threatening the future of plans run by legacy children’s hospitals in Fort Worth and South Texas, and shaking up health care coverage for low-income families throughout the state.

The video above is from ABC13’s 24/7 livestream.

Some 1.8 million Texans who receive Medicaid coverage from six managed care organizations across the state would lose their current health plans and be shifted to new insurers next year if Texas Health and Human Services stands by a recent decision to redistribute the contracts after a competitive bidding process.

The change would mean a reduction in the number of managed care organizations that administer the state’s Medicaid STAR and Children’s Health Insurance Program, a shift toward for-profit companies in most areas of the state, a smaller number of top-rated plans administering care, and the introduction of new …