Texas has the highest uninsured rate in the nation, with 24 percent of residents having no health insurance, according to the latest data from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was set to help states like Texas through provisions like Medicaid expansion, which would cover residents who earn up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. However, Texas Gov. Rick Perry decided to pass on the expansion, and hospital leaders in the state are scrambling to find ways to offset the lost revenue.
Ted Shaw, president and CEO of the Texas Hospital Association and former CFO of Parkland Health & Hospital System in Dallas, called on state hospital leaders last week to find new ways to fund hospitals and health systems for the long term.
"With federal healthcare reform, Texas had an unprecedented opportunity to cover a large portion of the state's adult uninsured population," Mr. Shaw said in a news release. "But because the state's leadership made a philosophical point of rejecting this option, more than 1 million Texans will remain uninsured. At the same time, Texas hospitals are dealing with steep funding cuts."
Those other funding reductions include billions of dollars in cuts to Medicare and Medicaid disproportionate share hospital payments, as well as the 2 percent haircut to Medicare reimbursements all hospitals face via sequestration. Those 2 percent cuts will persist at least until 2023.
"Texas hospitals have the power to work together to propose a solution and shape our own future," Mr. Shaw said. "We recognize how contentious this issue is but understand the importance of a hospital-led solution to ensure that the losses are minimized and gains maximized."
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