Cecile Erwin Young, in Her Official Capacity as the Executive Commissioner of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission; Molina Healthcare of Texas, Inc.; And Aetna Better Health of Texas, Inc. v. Cook Children's Health Plan, Texas Children's Health Plan, Superior Health Plan, Inc., and Wellpoint Insurance Company

ACCEPTED 15-24-00114-CV FIFTEENTH COURT OF APPEALS AUSTIN, TEXAS 8/29/2025 11:26 AM NO. 15-24-00114-CV CHRISTOPHER A. PRINE CLERK FILED IN In the Fifteenth District 15th COURT OF APPEALS AUSTIN, TEXAS 8/29/2025 11:26:47 AM Court of Appeals CHRISTOPHER A. PRINE Clerk

Cecile Erwin Young, in Her Official Capacity as Executive Commissioner of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, Molina Healthcare of Texas, Inc., and Aetna Better Health of Texas, Inc., Appellants, v. Cook Children’s Health Plan, Texas Children’s Health Plan, Superior Health Plan, Inc., and Wellpoint Insurance Company, Appellees.

On Appeal from Cause No. D-1-GN-24-003839, In the 455th Judicial District Court of Travis County, Texas / Honorable Laurie Eiserloh, Presiding Judge

APPELLEES’ JOINT MOTION TO SET DEADLINE FOR FILING REPLIES IN SUPPORT OF RULE 29.3 MOTIONS

Appellees Cook Children’s Health Plan, Texas Children’s Health Plan, Superior Health Plan, Inc., and Wellpoint Insurance Company (collectively, “Appellees”) file this Joint Motion to Set Deadline for Filing Replies in Support of Rule 29.3 Motions. In support, Appellees show the following: 1. On July 10, 2025, Appellees Cook Children’s Health Plan and Texas Children’s Plan, Appellee Superior HealthPlan, Inc., and Appellee Wellpoint Insurance Company filed opposed motions requesting temporary relief under Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 29.3 to preserve the status quo pending disposition of this interlocutory appeal brought by Appellants.

2. On July 14, 2025, Appellant Cecile Young, in her official capacity as the Executive Commissioner of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (“the Executive Commissioner”), filed a motion to extend the deadline for filing her response by 30 days from July 21, 2025 to August 20, 2025 – giving her 41 total days to file her response (July 10, 2025 to August 20, 2025). In support, the Executive Commissioner cited: (1) other briefing and argument obligations; (2) prelitigation, oversight, and managerial responsibilities in the Office of the Attorney General; (3) the receipt of three Rule 29.3 motions from four appellees; and (4) “the volume of material requiring response [being] greater than the usual Rule 29.3 context, totaling over 150 pages.”

3. Appellees – and to the extent the Executive Commissioner conferred with Appellants Molina Healthcare of Texas, Inc. (“Molina”) and Aetna Better Health of Texas, Inc. (“Aetna”) – did not oppose the Executive Commissioner’s motion for extension that gave her 41 days to file her response.

4. On July 15, 2025, this Court granted the Executive Commissioner’s motion and extended the deadline for filing her response until August 25, 2025, which gave the Executive Commissioner 46 days to file her response.

5. On August 25, 2025, the Executive Commissioner filed her response to Appellees’ Rule 29.3 motions. On August 25, 2025, Molina also filed a response.

And on August 27, 2025, Aetna filed a response adopting the Executive Commissioner’s and Molina’s responses.

6. Given the importance of the temporary relief requested in their Rule 29.3 motions, Appellees intend to file replies in support of their motions and respectfully request that this Court not hear or determine their motions until Appellees have had the opportunity to file their replies.

7. Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 10 does not establish a deadline by which Appellees must file their replies in support of their Rule 29.3 motions.

Accordingly, Appellees file this motion requesting that this Court grant them until October 9, 2025 – 45 days after the Executive Commissioner and Molina filed their responses – to file Appellees’ replies in support of their Rule 29.3 motions.

8. Such a deadline is justified in light of counsel for Appellees’ briefing and other obligations in other matters as well as the volume of arguments asserted by the Executive Commissioner and Molina in their responses (a significant number of which have not been previously raised in the trial court or in this appeal) that require reply by Appellees and that are “greater than the usual Rule 29.3 context.”

9. Given the importance of the temporary relief requested by Appellees and the overlap of the issues addressed in Appellees’ Rule 29.3 motions with the issues that will be addressed in Appellees’ merits briefs, Appellees submit that this motion, if granted, will enable them to provide this Court with a thorough and thoughtful analysis of the Executive Commissioner’s and Molina’s responses that will significantly assist this Court in deciding Appellees’ motions.

10. Finally, as the Executive Commissioner noted in her motion for extension of time to respond to Appellees’ Rule 29.3 motions and which applies equally to the relief Appellees request herein, “no party will be prejudiced … because no party is seeking expedited or emergency review” and Appellants themselves received 46 days to file their responses to the Rule 29.3 motions.

CONCLUSION For the reasons herein, Appellees respectfully request that this Court: (1) grant Appellees’ Joint Motion to Set Deadline for Filing Replies in Support of Rule 29.3 Motions; (2) grant Appellees until and including October 9, 2025 to file their replies in support of their Rule 29.3 motions; and (3) grant Appellees any and all other relief to which they are entitled.

Respectfully submitted, NORTON ROSE FULBRIGHT US LLP ALEXANDER DUBOSE & JEFFERSON

By /s/ Warren S. Huang By /s/ Amy Warr Susan Feigin Harris Amy Warr State Bar No. 06876980 State Bar No. 00795708 [email protected] [email protected] Warren S. Huang Anna M. Baker State Bar No. 00796788 State Bar No. 00791362 [email protected] [email protected] 1550 Lamar, Suite 2000 100 Congress Avenue, Suite 1450 Houston, Texas 77010 Austin, Texas 78701-2709 Telephone: (713) 651-5151 Telephone: (512) 482-9300 Paul D. Trahan Karen C. Burgess State Bar No. 24003075 State Bar No. 00796276 [email protected] [email protected] NORTON ROSE FULBRIGHT US LLP Katie Dolan-Galaviz San Jacinto Boulevard, Suite 1100 State Bar No. 24069620 Austin, Texas 78701 [email protected] Telephone: (512) 474-5201 BURGESS LAW PC West 13th Street Thomas A. Coulter Austin, Texas 78701-1825 [email protected] Telephone: (512) 482-8808 State Bar No. 04885500 NORTON ROSE FULBRIGHT US LLP Matthew P. Gordon 9th Street, NW, Suite 1100 [email protected] Washington, D.C. 20001 Admission Pro Hac Vice Telephone: (202) 662-0200 PERKINS COIE LLP 1201 Third Avenue, Suite 4900 Counsel for Appellee Texas Children’s Seattle, Washington 98101-3099 Health Plan Telephone: (206) 359-8000 Counsel for Appellee Plaintiff Cook Children’s Health Plan

FOLEY & LARDNER LLP HOLLAND & KNIGHT LLP

By /s/ Stacy R. Obenhaus By /s/ Richard B. Phillips, Jr. Robert F. Johnson III Richard B. Phillips, Jr. State Bar No. 10786400 State Bar No. 24032833 [email protected] [email protected] Congress Avenue, Suite 3000 One Arts Plaza Austin, Texas. 78701 1722 Routh Street, Suite 1500 Telephone: (512) 542-7000 Dallas, Texas 75201 Telephone: (214) 964-9500 Michelle Y. Ku State Bar No. 24071452 Karen D. Walker [email protected] Admission Pro Hac Vice Stacy R. Obenhaus [email protected] State Bar No. 15161570 Tiffany Roddenberry [email protected] Admission Pro Hac Vice FOLEY & LARDNER LLP [email protected] 2021 McKinney, Suite 1600 HOLLAND & KNIGHT LLP Dallas, Texas 75201 315 South Calhoun Street, Suite 600 Telephone: (214) 999-3000 Tallahassee, Florida 32301 Telephone: (850) 425-5612 Benjamin J. Grossman Of Counsel Counsel for Appellee Superior [email protected] Health Plan, Inc. FOLEY & LARDNER LLP East College Avenue, Suite 900 Tallahassee, Florida 32301 Telephone: (850) 222-6100 Counsel for Appellee Wellpoint Insurance Company

CERTIFICATE OF CONFERENCE Undersigned counsel for Appellee Texas Children’s Health Plan, on behalf of Appellees, conferred with counsel for Appellants regarding the relief requested in this motion. The Executive Commissioner does not oppose a 30-day deadline but opposes a 45-day deadline. Aetna does not oppose up to a 30-day deadline but opposes more than a 30-day deadline. Molina opposes the relief requested in Appellees’ motion.

/s/ Warren S. Huang Warren S. Huang

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE Undersigned counsel hereby certifies that a copy of Appellees’ Joint Motion to Set Deadline for Filing Replies in Support of Rule 29.3 Motions was served in compliance with Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.5 via the electronic filing manager or electronic mail on August 29, 2025, upon all counsel of record: Ken Paxton Attorney General of Texas Brent Webster First Assistant Attorney General William R. Peterson Solicitor General William F. Cole Principal Deputy Solicitor General [email protected] Cory A. Scanlon Assistant Solicitor General [email protected] OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL P.O. Box 12548 (MC 059) Austin, Texas 78711-25848 Counsel for Appellant Cecile Erwin Young, In Her Official Capacity as Executive Commissioner of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission

Joseph R. Knight Cheryl Joseph LaFond [email protected] [email protected] EWELL, BROWN, BLANKE & KNIGHT LLP Jason LaFond Congress Avenue, Suite 2800 [email protected] Austin, Texas 78701 SCOTT, DOUGLASS & MCCONNICO LLP Colorado Street, Suite 2400 Mark J. Kessler Austin, Texas 78701 [email protected] TAFT STETTINIUS & HOLLISTER LLP Counsel for Molina Healthcare of South High Street, Suite 1800 Texas, Inc. Columbus, Ohio 43215-6106 Counsel for Aetna Better Health of Texas, Inc.

/s/ Warren S. Huang Warren S. Huang

Automated Certificate of eService This automated certificate of service was created by the efiling system.

The filer served this document via email generated by the efiling system on the date and to the persons listed below. The rules governing certificates of service have not changed. Filers must still provide a certificate of service that complies with all applicable rules.

Warren Huang on behalf of Warren Huang Bar No. 796788 [email protected] Envelope ID: 105019158 Filing Code Description: Motion Filing Description: Motion Status as of 8/29/2025 11:43 AM CST Case Contacts Name BarNumber Email TimestampSubmitted Status Michaelle Peters [email protected] 8/29/2025 11:26:47 AM SENT Julie Wright [email protected] 8/29/2025 11:26:47 AM SENT Amanda DoddsPrice [email protected] 8/29/2025 11:26:47 AM SENT Maria Williamson [email protected] 8/29/2025 11:26:47 AM SENT Mandy Patterson [email protected] 8/29/2025 11:26:47 AM SENT Michelle Joyner [email protected] 8/29/2025 11:26:47 AM SENT William FCole [email protected] 8/29/2025 11:26:47 AM SENT Abril Rivera [email protected] 8/29/2025 11:26:47 AM SENT Nancy Villarreal [email protected] 8/29/2025 11:26:47 AM SENT Cory Scanlon [email protected] 8/29/2025 11:26:47 AM SENT David Johns [email protected] 8/29/2025 11:26:47 AM SENT Jessie Johnson [email protected] 8/29/2025 11:26:47 AM SENT Stacey Jett [email protected] 8/29/2025 11:26:47 AM SENT

Associated Case Party: Cook Children's Health Plan Name BarNumber Email TimestampSubmitted Status Karen Burgess 796276 [email protected] 8/29/2025 11:26:47 AM SENT Anna Baker 791362 [email protected] 8/29/2025 11:26:47 AM SENT Amy Warr 795708 [email protected] 8/29/2025 11:26:47 AM SENT Juliana Bennington [email protected] 8/29/2025 11:26:47 AM SENT Jonathan Hawley [email protected] 8/29/2025 11:26:47 AM ERROR Trisha Marino [email protected] 8/29/2025 11:26:47 AM SENT Automated Certificate of eService This automated certificate of service was created by the efiling system.

The filer served this document via email generated by the efiling system on the date and to the persons listed below. The rules governing certificates of service have not changed. Filers must still provide a certificate of service that complies with all applicable rules.

Warren Huang on behalf of Warren Huang Bar No. 796788 [email protected] Envelope ID: 105019158 Filing Code Description: Motion Filing Description: Motion Status as of 8/29/2025 11:43 AM CST Associated Case Party: Cook Children's Health Plan Trisha Marino [email protected] 8/29/2025 11:26:47 AM SENT Katie Dolan-Galaviz [email protected] 8/29/2025 11:26:47 AM SENT Perkins Docketing Team [email protected] 8/29/2025 11:26:47 AM SENT Matthew Gordon [email protected] 8/29/2025 11:26:47 AM SENT

Associated Case Party: Texas Children's Health Plan Name BarNumber Email TimestampSubmitted Status Mark Emery 24050564 [email protected] 8/29/2025 11:26:47 AM SENT Warren Huang 796788 [email protected] 8/29/2025 11:26:47 AM SENT Paul Trahan 24003075 [email protected] 8/29/2025 11:26:47 AM SENT Susan Harris 6876980 [email protected] 8/29/2025 11:26:47 AM SENT Thomas Coulter 4885500 [email protected] 8/29/2025 11:26:47 AM SENT Kayla Ahmed [email protected] 8/29/2025 11:26:47 AM SENT

Associated Case Party: Wellpoint Insurance Company Name BarNumber Email TimestampSubmitted Status Robert Johnson 10786400 [email protected] 8/29/2025 11:26:47 AM SENT Michelle Ku 24071452 [email protected] 8/29/2025 11:26:47 AM SENT Kristin Hernandez [email protected] 8/29/2025 11:26:47 AM SENT Stacey Obenhaus [email protected] 8/29/2025 11:26:47 AM SENT Benjamin Grossman [email protected] 8/29/2025 11:26:47 AM SENT

Associated Case Party: Superior Healthplan Inc. Automated Certificate of eService This automated certificate of service was created by the efiling system.

The filer served this document via email generated by the efiling system on the date and to the persons listed below. The rules governing certificates of service have not changed. Filers must still provide a certificate of service that complies with all applicable rules.

Warren Huang on behalf of Warren Huang Bar No. 796788 [email protected] Envelope ID: 105019158 Filing Code Description: Motion Filing Description: Motion Status as of 8/29/2025 11:43 AM CST Associated Case Party: Superior Healthplan Inc. Name BarNumber Email TimestampSubmitted Status Richard Phillips 24032833 [email protected] 8/29/2025 11:26:47 AM SENT J McCaig 24070083 [email protected] 8/29/2025 11:26:47 AM SENT Karen Walker [email protected] 8/29/2025 11:26:47 AM SENT Tiffany Roddenberry [email protected] 8/29/2025 11:26:47 AM SENT

Associated Case Party: Texas Health and Human Services Name BarNumber Email TimestampSubmitted Status Victoria Gomez [email protected] 8/29/2025 11:26:47 AM SENT Jennifer Cook [email protected] 8/29/2025 11:26:47 AM SENT

Associated Case Party: Molina Healthcare of Texas, Inc. Name BarNumber Email TimestampSubmitted Status Cheryl LaFond 24104015 [email protected] 8/29/2025 11:26:47 AM SENT Jason R.LaFond [email protected] 8/29/2025 11:26:47 AM SENT

Associated Case Party: Aetna Better Health of Texas, Inc. Name BarNumber Email TimestampSubmitted Status Joseph Knight 11601275 [email protected] 8/29/2025 11:26:47 AM SENT

Associated Case Party: Cecile Erwin Young, Texas Health and Human Services Automated Certificate of eService This automated certificate of service was created by the efiling system.

The filer served this document via email generated by the efiling system on the date and to the persons listed below. The rules governing certificates of service have not changed. Filers must still provide a certificate of service that complies with all applicable rules.

Warren Huang on behalf of Warren Huang Bar No. 796788 [email protected] Envelope ID: 105019158 Filing Code Description: Motion Filing Description: Motion Status as of 8/29/2025 11:43 AM CST Associated Case Party: Cecile Erwin Young, Texas Health and Human Services Name BarNumber Email TimestampSubmitted Status Cory Scanlon 24104599 [email protected] 8/29/2025 11:26:47 AM SENT Jeffrey Stephens [email protected] 8/29/2025 11:26:47 AM SENT