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The Business of Health Care Report
There's an old tradition in which scorecards are awarded to the Texas Legislature after it wraps up each biennial session.
My own “scorecard” opens with an “A” on two important health care priorities that are now on their way to enactment: the successful effort to expand the Children's Health Insurance Program – or “CHIP,” and a redesign of Medicaid to provide health insurance to 200,000 of the 5.5 million uninsured people in Texas.
With passage of CHIP and Medicaid legislation this session, lawmakers took important steps forward to begin to confront Texas’ uninsured crisis.
But let there be no mistake, the crisis is far from over. Ensuring that more eligible Texans benefit from CHIP and Medicaid is important, but that is only part of the solution.
Solving this problem and providing accessible and affordable health care for all Texans requires a comprehensive approach that involves both the public and private sectors.
By making health coverage more accessible and affordable, the legislature can directly impact the health and well-being of millions of Texans who struggle without health insurance every day.
For Texas Health Resources and its faith-based hospitals – Harris Methodist, Presbyterian and Arlington Memorial – I’m
Doug Hawthorne.
©
2005 Texas Health Resources |
I'm Doug Hawthorne, President and CEO of Texas Health Resources, with
"The Business of Health Care Report."