Texas House bill by Rep. Dorazio permits Medicaid provider criminal history checks

Passed bill authored by State Rep. Mark Dorazio seeks to enhance oversight of Medicaid providers by permitting state agencies to access criminal history information of individuals with ownership or managerial roles, according to the Texas Legislature website.

In the House, 56 Democrats and 77 Republicans voted in favor of the bill, while one Democrat opposed it.

Meanwhile, in the Senate, 11 Democrats and 20 Republicans voted in favor, with no opposing votes.

Mark Dorazio introduced the bill in the Texas House on Wednesday, March 12, during the 89th regular legislative session.

Dorazio, a Republican, was elected to the Texas State House in 2023 to represent the state’s 122nd House district, replacing previous state representative Lyle Larson.

According to the Texas Legislature, the bill’s official text was summarized as follows: ‘Relating to access to criminal history record information that relates to providers and provider applicants under Medicaid and other public benefits programs administered by the Health and Human Services Commission’.

The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.

In essence, this bill permits the Health and Human Services Commission or the Office of Inspector General to access criminal history record information of individuals connected to Medicaid providers. Specifically, this includes persons with at least a 5% ownership interest in the provider, those with significant financial interests in provider-secured obligations, corporate officers or directors, partners in partnerships, and managing employees. Managing employees are defined as those wielding operational or managerial control or overseeing daily operations. The bill outlines that a Medicaid agency is the single state entity managing the state Medicaid plan and defines “ownership interest” and “provider.” The bill will take effect April 1, 2025, if it receives a two-thirds majority vote in both legislative houses; otherwise, it takes effect Sept. 1, 2025.

The bill received its final legislative approval on Tuesday, May 20, and was signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday, June 20.

Bills in Texas go through a multi-step legislative process, including committee review, debates, and votes in both chambers before reaching a final decision. Each session, there are typically thousands of bills introduced, but only a portion successfully navigate the process to become law.

You can read more about the bills and other measures here.