The Texas Senate Committee on Health and Human Services will take invited testimony at 9:30 a.m. May 27 on what is driving up healthcare and insurance prices in Texas.
There will be pharmacy benefit managers and hospital facility fees explicitly in view. They will also review how the state is carrying out a set of health measures passed last year. The committee will hear invited testimony only.
When: 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, May 27
Where: Room E1.012 (Hearing Room), Capitol Extension, Austin
Chair: Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R–Brenham (SD-18)
Vice Chair: Sen. Charles Perry, R–Lubbock (SD-28)
Format: Invited testimony only; no public testimony
Live video: senate.texas.gov/av-live.php
Chaired by Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, the eight-member panel is working through interim charges issued ahead of the 90th Legislature, which convenes in January 2027.
The first charge, Rising Health Care and Insurance Costs, directs the committee to examine what is driving healthcare costs in Texas. It also asks lawmakers to review whether certain providers and service models — particularly pharmacy benefit managers and healthcare facility fees — are increasing premiums and prices.
Members are also asked to identify ways to lower costs and add market flexibility, including through health savings accounts and newer, more flexible insurance products. Pharmacy benefit managers, the intermediaries that negotiate drug prices between insurers and pharmacies, drew bipartisan scrutiny last session and remain a focus of federal regulators; “facility fees” charged for outpatient care have likewise become a flashpoint in the national debate over hospital billing.
The second charge, Monitoring, asks the panel to track implementation of health legislation it handled during the 89th Legislature and to recommend any follow-up measures. The hearing notice singles out three 2025 laws: Senate Bill 25, relating to health and nutrition standards including food-labeling and nutrition-education requirements; Senate Bill 331, relating to the disclosure of health care cost information by certain facilities and carrying an administrative penalty; and Senate Bill 1236, relating to the relationship between pharmacists or pharmacies and health benefit plan issuers or pharmacy benefit managers. The committee may also take up other legislation tied to healthcare costs.
Because this is an interim hearing, the committee will produce findings and recommendations rather than advance bills. Any resulting legislation would not be filed until the 90th Legislature convenes next year.
Committee members
- Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R–Brenham (SD-18) — Chair
- Sen. Charles Perry, R–Lubbock (SD-28) — Vice Chair
- Sen. César Blanco, D–El Paso (SD-29)
- Sen. Molly Cook, D–Houston (SD-15)
- Sen. Bob Hall, R–Edgewood (SD-2)
- Sen. Bryan Hughes, R–Mineola (SD-1)
- Sen. Borris L. Miles, D–Houston (SD-13)
- Sen. Kevin Sparks, R–Midland (SD-31)