Further discussions took place in 2024, including a conversation following Hurricane Beryl about another death of an oxygen dependent Texan; this time a 71-year-old resident of Crystal Beach, TX who died in her home when the loss of power shut down her oxygen concentrator. 

In mid-January 2025, Cote gave a presentation on Power Outage Partners to the GCPD’s Durable Medical Equipment Back-up Power Task Force and the following week, Cote traveled to Houston to present at the GCPD’s quarterly meeting on January 23, 2025. GCPD members were receptive to the program and since then, Cote and GCPD’s executive director have been working with other disability advocacy groups to develop plans for a Texas initiative, including Disability Rights Texas and the Coalition for Barrier Free Living. The TexMEP Association, a non-profit that represents the state’s DME suppliers, has also pledged its support. The project will start with a Phase I planning process that will culminate with a detailed Power Outage Partners action plan. 

This action plan will include two pillars; identifying virtually all Texans who depend on durable medical equipment (DME) in their homes and providing funding to these individuals to purchase backup power resources, including whole house generators, medical device batteries and portable battery systems that can be recharged with solar panels.

Identifying DME Dependent Texans Will Dramatically Enhance Support for Vulnerable Citizens

Today in Texas, individuals who rely on electric powered medical devices can voluntarily register with the State of Texas Emergency Assistance Registry (STEAR), a program led by the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM). TDEM officials share the names of  residents who sign up for STEAR with county and local governments, enabling stepped up support during power outages. One of the biggest challenges facing STEAR, and similar registries operated by other states, is that its voluntary nature means STEAR will never capture data on all Texans living at home who depend on electric-powered medical equipment.

Power Outage Partners seeks to change this model by partnering with  DME suppliers, home health agencies and other stakeholders to capture data on every Texan who depends on DME at home. This approach will produce a census of all DME-dependent Texans, giving county and local officials powerful information they can use to prioritize power outage support to their most vulnerable citizens.

This approach will mirror the model followed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services which created the emPOWER database to provide state, county and local officials with data on the number of Medicare beneficiaries who depend on one or more of fourteen types of electric-powered medical devices. This data was intended to help officials better anticipate the number of electricity-dependent individuals that might descend upon hospital emergency departments simply seeking a place to plug in their device. During emergencies, a designated official from the Texas Department of State Health Services can request access to the names and addresses of individuals on the emPOWER database to enable life-saving outreach.

The emPOWER program only provides data on Medicare beneficiaries and Power Outage Partners plans to capture data on all DME users, regardless of type of insurance. Success on this front will produce the most comprehensive census of vulnerable Texans ever compiled, arming county and local officials with the data needed to boost power outage support for their most vulnerable citizens. This data capturing process will comply with HIPPA privacy guidelines and will also give Texans the opportunity to opt out of being included in this census.

Once the most vulnerable are identified, prioritized power outage support can be provided.

As Power Outage Partners works to build its census of DME-dependent Texans, the initiative will also work to connect the most vulnerable DME users with funding to purchase additional backup power resources. Initial work with target invasively ventilated Texans, considered the most vulnerable given their need for 24/7 access to power. This population is estimated at just over 4,000 individuals. Another highly vulnerable group to be prioritized will be the most vulnerable oxygen dependent individuals. Work is underway to determine how best to identify the most vulnerable among this very large group. 
Efforts are currently underway to identify funding sources to provide additional backup power resources, including work with state lawmakers who can appropriate funds from the Texas Energy Fund to support backup power purchases.

Individuals currently enrolled in Medicaid waiver programs can tap existing waiver funds to purchase backup power resources. Waiver participants interested in doing so should contact their case management agency or their DME supplier for more information about how to access funding and what backup power solutions would work best for them.

Individuals interested in learning more about the Power Outage Partners initiative in Texas can contact GCPD Executive Director Ron Lucey or Power Outage Partners project director Eric Cote.  Lucey can be reached at Ron.Lucey@gov.texas.gov or by calling 737-701-6976. Eric Cote can be reached at cote@poweredforpatients.org or by calling 512-988-6411.