Last year the State of Texas slashed $350 million in funding for pediatric therapy services for children with disabilities. Parents of disabled children cried foul, and a group of home therapy providers sued to stop the funding cuts. They lost that court battle in April. Now,as The Texas Tribune reports, Texas is finally poised to move forward with the planned cuts. Beginning July 15, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission will begin cutting payments to children’s speech and physical therapy providers.
But children’s health advocates have vowed to continue the fight. Therapy providers are calling on state officials to hold a public hearing so that families can be heard. They’re also begging lawmakers to intervene. In an email to the Tribune, a spokesman for Texans Care for Children decried what he called “budget savings on the backs of children with disabilities.”
The state insists the cuts make fiscal sense.