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Texas Physicians Endorse Patient Advocate, Rep. Dawnna Dukes for Reelection to Texas House District 46
| For Immediate Release: Dec. 3, 2007 | |
| Contacts: | |
| Pam Udall: (512) 370-1382; Cell: 413-6807; e-mail: pam.udall@texmed.org | |
| Brent Annear: (512) 370-1381; Cell: (512) 656-7320; e-mail: brent.annear@texmed.org | |
| TEXPAC Contact: David Reynolds (512) 370-1365; e-mail: david.reynolds@texmed.org | |
AUSTIN - The political advocacy arm of the Texas Medical Association (TMA), Texas' largest physician organization, late last week endorsed State Rep. Dawnna Dukes for reelection to Texas House District 46.
"Representative Dukes is a powerful champion in the Texas Legislature for patients and their physicians," said Manual Acosta, MD, chair of the TMA Political Action Committee (TEXPAC) Board of Directors. "She is determined to fight for health care for those Texans who can least afford it. We need to make sure she wins reelection."
During the 2007 Texas Legislature, Representative Dukes was a key cosponsor of House Bill 109, which restored Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) coverage for more than 120,000 children in low-income, working families. As a member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services, Representative Dukes fought for and won additional state funding for CHIP, children's Medicaid, mental health crisis centers, primary care prevention services, and special preventive health care for women.
"Representative Dukes' legislative record proves that she is a tremendously effective patient advocate," Dr. Acosta said. "She passed a bill to help Medicaid patients find physicians who are in the program. She passed a bill to give patients and physicians greater choice in life-saving vaccinations.
"As the state experiments with new ways to finance our Medicaid program, Representative Dukes will be there to make sure our patients are covered. She was recently appointed to the Medicaid Reform Legislative Oversight Committee, which is responsible for a smooth transition from the existing Medicaid payment benefit systems to any recommended new model of Medicaid."
TEXPAC speaks on behalf of more than 43,000 Texas physicians and medical students, and nearly 8,000 alliance members. Organized in 1962, TEXPAC is one of the oldest political action committees in Texas. TEXPAC also is one of the largest bipartisan PACs in the state and ranks first in size among other state medical association PACs.
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