A survey of Texas HIV, sexually transmitted disease, tuberculosis, and viral hepatitis providers' billing and reimbursement capabilities

The Affordable Care Act presents financial challenges and opportunities for publicly funded service providers. We assessed billing practices and anticipated barriers to thirdparty billing among organizations in Texas that provide publicly funded HIV, sexually transmitted diseases, tuberculosis, and viral hepatitis services. One third to one half of the organizations did not bill for medical services. The most common barrier to third-party billing was lack of staff knowledge about billing and coding. Future research must evaluate options for organizations and communities to maintain access to infectious disease services for vulnerable populations.