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Effective January 20, 2009, the Texas Medicaid Vendor Drug Program will require pharmacy providers to bill any other known insurance before Vendor Drug will process submitted claims. To assist pharmacies, the Vendor Drug point-of-sale process will return billing information for any client claims that must be billed to another carrier. The pharmacy provider is to accept the combined payment from the other payer(s) and Texas Medicaid as payment in full and may neither charge nor take ...

* Most of us realize that sneezing, sniffling or congestion are often signs of an allergic reaction, whether it be an airborne allergy to pollens, dust, dust mites or pet dander or reactions to other allergens like mold or cockroaches. When these symptoms occur, we’re usually quick to use medications to relieve those symptoms. But how many of us think that our itchy, watering or burning eyes and blurred vision might also be an allergic reaction to these same allergens? * For women who use ...

AUSTIN – The Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) is extending Medicaid coverage for about 34,000 children in the Houston-Beaumont areas over concerns that Hurricane Ike may have disrupted the ability of families to get and return the forms to renew their coverage. HHSC will automatically extend the children’s coverage for 90 days in southeast Texas and will send out new packets to help the families complete the regular renewal process by April. The children’s coverage would ...

December 16, 2008 New billing process starts January 20, 2009 Effective January 20, 2009, the Texas Medicaid Vendor Drug Program will require pharmacy providers to bill any other known insurance before Vendor Drug will process submitted claims. To assist pharmacies, the Vendor Drug point-of-sale process will return billing information for any client claims that must be billed to another carrier. The pharmacy provider is to accept the combined payment from the other payer(s) and Texas ...

December 12, 2008 Texas Health Steps Online Provider Education The Texas Health and Human Services Commission has a series of computer-based training opportunities for pharmacies to educate staff about Medicaid pharmacy benefits (particularly for children under 21) and how to get reimbursed. The state is working with the University of Texas to offer continuing education credit for this online training. Providers can access the training at www.txhealthsteps.com. Information about this ...

December 12, 2008 Reminder: 72-Hour Emergency Overrides of PA-Required Drugs Federal and Texas law require that a 72-hour emergency supply of a prescribed drug be provided to Medicaid clients when medication is needed without delay and prior authorization (PA) is not available. The rule applies to non-preferred drugs on the Preferred Drug list and any drug that is affected by a clinical or PA edit and would need prescriber prior approval. The 72-hour emergency supply should be dispensed ...

(Dallas, Texas - December 4, 2008) San Antonio’s North East Independent School District has been honored today for implementing successful indoor air quality programs during the 9th Annual Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools National Symposium in Washington, D.C.

(Dallas, Texas - December 4, 2008) Diane Rhodes, Asthma Educator for the Department of Safe and Healthy Schools within San Antonio’s North East Independent School District has been honored today by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in recognition of her outstanding commitment to a healthy school environment.

By JENNIFER CORBETT DOOREN WASHINGTON -- A Food and Drug Administration analysis of four drugs used to treat asthma said the products are linked with an increased risk of asthma-related side effects, with higher risks seen in children. The analysis, released Friday, looked at GlaxoSmithKline PLC's Serevent and Advair, Novartis AG's and Schering-Plough Corp.'s Foradil and AstraZeneca PLC's Symbicort. It looked at whether the drugs increased a combined measure of asthma-related death, ...

* Most asthma patients require two types of medication: quick-relief or rescue medications for emergency use (the albuterol drugs - quick acting bronchodilators) plus controller or preventative medications used on a regular basis to contain the disease and prevent flare-ups or exacerbations. * Quick-relief or albuterol medication is often in MDI – Metered Dose Inhaler – format which uses a propellant gas to deliver the medicine to the lungs. There are many brands of albuterol drugs. In the ...

* Asthma isn’t just a children’s disease although the majority of asthma patients are children. Asthma can begin at any age. There are a growing number of patients who first show signs of asthma as adults, many over age 40, even into their late 60’s. Why? No one has a specific answer because scientists still don’t know what causes asthma, the disease. We know what triggers symptoms but we don’t yet know why the disease strikes one person and not another. Certainly, the cause is partly ...

* MYTH: Children outgrow asthma in their teens. Once they hit puberty their asthma disappears, they don’t have the disease anymore so they don’t need to use asthma medications. FALSE! Asthma is a chronic disease. The symptoms of the disease (cough, wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness) may disappear or improve because the patient is following their medication plan (in compliance) or has eliminated their asthma triggers which cause their symptoms to occur, but the disease is ...

Texas faces sobering health care challenges. Despite low immunization rates and numerous public health challenges, state health spending ranks among the lowest in the nation. Nearly 6 million Texans lack health insurance coverage, including 1.5 million children. The CPPP has released a new report that provides an update on major actions on health care access in the 2007 legislative session and the important issues and challenges that remain as we approach the 2009 session.

Courses presented in multiple cities in U.S. See below for details. Homeland Defense Journal produces over 150 course presentations each year. Our instructors are the "best of the best". For details on these courses and the full range of security training, go to http://www.homelanddefensejournal.com/. Risk and Crisis Communication in the 21st Century - A Thought Leaders Forum on the Trends and Innovations Shaping Communication in Times of Crisis Nov 3, 2008 Washington, DC  ...

Click the link below to read Rx Update October 2008 issue. Texas Health and Human Services Commission Newsletter, October 2008

Click on the link below for letter from the Texas Department of State Health Services on Immunization Requirements: Provisional Enrollment Extension for Students Displaced by Hurrican Ike /attachments/wysiwyg/539/ImmReqs_Hurricane_Ike_10-10-08.pdf

* Asthma is the most widespread chronic disease in children; it affects not only the patient but the whole family. Asthma can result in family friction, stress, irritation, financial worries, resentment in siblings, or, it can strengthen the family unit as everyone works together to support and control the disease. * Sometimes, asthma, like any chronic illness, can blow family problems out of proportion and tensions within the family can ran high. Asthma and family problems can ...

Infants who experience viral respiratory illnesses with wheezing are known to be at increased risk for developing asthma later during childhood. It is not known, however, whether every type of respiratory virus that produces wheezing presents similar risk. Using new molecular techniques to identify different viruses, researchers now believe they have pinpointed the biggest culprit: rhinovirus (RV). "We have found that rhinovirus, the most common cause of colds, contributes a ...

AUSTIN – The Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) has received federal approval to increase the amount of emergency food stamps that many Ike victims will receive in October. The new policy applies to low-income households eligible for food stamps in the 29 counties declared federal disaster areas after Hurricane Ike. It doesn’t change the income limits for the program, but it does provide eligible families with additional food stamp assistance in October. “I want to thank the ...

* Researchers have discovered a link between menopause and Adult Onset Asthma. The link is estrogen, a hormone protective of lungs and actively produced in young women of child-bearing years. Menopause reduces or stops the production of estrogen and this estrogen reduction could lead to asthma, especially for thin women. Women that are underweight are four times likely to develop asthma or allergies then women who are in the upper normal weight range. Obesity or being overweight is ...