Make Health Insurance More Affordable: Texas Hospitals Urge State

Texas Affordable Health Insurance

As the nation prepares to mark Cover the Uninsured Week, the Texas Hospital Association is urging lawmakers to take meaningful steps to make health insurance more affordable and accessible in Texas - which has the highest rate of uninsured residents in the country.

Cover the Uninsured Week is observed nationally to highlight the importance of access to affordable health care benefits. In Texas, Gov. Rick Perry has localized the awareness effort by proclaiming April 23-29 as Cover the Uninsured Week in the Lone Star State.

"Everyone pays the price when individuals, families and small businesses cannot afford health insurance," the Governor's proclamation states. "The increasing costs of uncompensated care place a strain on Texas hospitals, other health care providers and on the quality of care every patient receives. Texas recognizes the urgency to take meaningful steps to make health insurance more affordable and accessible."

Nearly one-fourth of Texas residents - about 5.5 million men, women and children - are uninsured. The uninsured rate in every major Texas city is higher than the national average, and Texas' share of uninsured children, more than 25 percent, also is higher than the national average. In 2005, eight of 10 non-elderly uninsured Texans came from working families -- nearly 70 percent from families with one or more full-time workers.

This growing health care crisis affects not only uninsured Texans, but also the health care and pocketbook of every other resident in the state, said THA President/CEO Dan Stultz, M.D., FACP, FACHE.

"Texas hospitals are working with our elected officials in the battle to provide health care coverage to more Texans through the private sector as well as state-funded programs such as Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program," Stultz said. "We know that access to affordable health insurance affects all Texans -- because we all pay the price when Texans don't get the care they need."

In addition to working to reverse cuts in Medicaid and CHIP funding and restore provider reimbursement rates, Stultz said THA supports a number of private-sector measures this legislative session to increase the number of Texans with health insurance coverage. These include:

• H.B. 882 by Rep. Elliott Naishtat/Rep. John Davis (S.B. 922 by Sen. Kirk Watson) - These measures authorize counties to establish or participate in regional health care programs, which would provide health care services or benefits to the employees of small employers located in the participating counties.

• H.B. 1182 by Rep. John Davis - Requires that state agencies and school districts consider whether a vendor provides health care benefits or equivalent health savings benefits to its employees when awarding a contract for goods or services.

• S.B. 1023 by Sen. Royce West - Limits use of money in the Texas Enterprise Fund to recipients that provide health insurance benefit plans.

• H.B. 3321 by Rep. Vicki Truitt - Requires students to be enrolled in a health benefit plan and to submit proof of health insurance before enrollment at a public institution of higher education.

• H.B. 3361 by Rep. Garnet Coleman (S.B. 1681 by Sen. Kip Averitt) - Requires that health care benefit plans allow unmarried children of any age to be covered under a parent's or grandparent's health insurance policy or plan if the cost of the premium is paid.

When uninsured Texans are sick, they often turn to hospital emergency rooms because they have no family doctor. Stultz noted that nearly 20 percent of people who lack health insurance report turning to the ER for what is often routine care, compared to only three percent of those with insurance coverage, according to the National Coalition on Health Care.

"Using hospital emergency rooms for non-critical care takes precious time and scarce resources that doctors, nurses and other health care professionals could put to work for those patients who truly need life-saving care or intervention for serious medical conditions," Stultz said, adding that Texas hospitals spent more than $10.1 billion in 2005 to care for patients who have no health insurance. "The costs of uncompensated care strain our physicians' and hospitals' ability to provide quality care to all patients - regardless of their insurance status, and it places undue burdens on local taxpayers, workers and health care consumers."

Increasing the number of people with health insurance will further enhance the quality of care and help reduce the losses that result from doctors and hospitals treating patients with no health insurance, Stultz said. Uncompensated care limits the financial resources available to invest in new technology, electronic communication, education and other enhancements that would improve patient care and outcomes for all patients, he said.

"We appreciate Gov. Perry's proclamation and his recognition that we have several opportunities this session to address various aspects of this problem," Stultz said. "Our goal in marking Cover the Uninsured Week is to draw attention not only to the problems we face in Texas, but also to the solutions outlined this legislative session. Texans should support these measures because this issue affects every one of us - from our parents and grandparents to our children and grandchildren."