At its regular Thursday meeting, the Council voted to endorse the U.S. National Health Insurance Act, H.R. 676, sponsored by Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., and 91 other members of Congress. The vote was six in favor and one abstention.

In taking the action, Austin joined at least 24 other municipalities, including Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, San Francisco and Louisville, Ky., that have called for the bill’s passage.

Also known as the Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act, Conyers’ bill would guarantee everyone access to all medically necessary care, including prescription drugs, with no co-pays or deductibles. It would contain costs by eliminating the administrative waste and bureaucracy associated with the private insurance industry, and it would assure patients their personal choice of doctor and hospital.

Speaking to a local reporter shortly before the vote, Council Member Lee Leffingwell, a co-sponsor of the resolution, said, “This is not socialized medicine. It is basically the same system we have now in the form of Medicare, just more broadly applied.”

Leffingwell told KLBJ-AM radio he was reluctant to get involved in national issues, “but … about 20 percent of our residents don’t have health insurance, and that puts a heavy burden on our area hospitals and our network of social service providers.” Council Members Mike Martinez and Randi Shade joined him in co-sponsoring the measure.

The Council’s action follows on the heels of a similar endorsement by the U.S. Conference of Mayors at its June meeting in Miami. Several religious denominations, most recently the Presbyterians and Unitarian Universalists, have also endorsed the single-payer approach, as have over 400 labor organizations, according to the resolution’s backers.

Bill Holloway, an activist with Health Care for All Texas who helped promote the Austin resolution, said: “This vote is a major victory for those who want to see a more just, rational and compassionate health care system in our state and nation. The resolution makes it clear that managed care and other private insurance company schemes have been miserable failures when it comes to providing care or containing costs.”

“We need to convince our lawmakers in Washington that a more equitable and sustainable system of publicly financed care is possible not tomorrow – but today,” he said. “The people of Austin have spoken: we want single-payer health care.”

Dr. Ana Malinow, a Houston-based pediatrician who serves as chairperson of HCFAT and president of Physicians for a National Health Program, said: “As a physician, I see the toll our broken health care system takes on people’s lives every day – too often leading to their financial ruin, unnecessary suffering, early disability or death. The Austin City Council, by its vote today, has pointed the way forward to a cure – single-payer national health insurance.”

By: California Nurses Association – Fri, 08/15/2008 – 14:31

In April, Hawkins suggested that the plan could use federal matching funds from safety-net hospitals to purchase coverage in the plan’s third year for the uninsured residents (Garrett, Dallas Morning News, 8/22). Hawkins also said that the plan to provide health coverage to about 482,000 uninsured parents whose children are enrolled in Medicaid or SCHIP will not begin this fall as planned. The program, which is mandated by the state Legislature, is intended to reduce the number of uninsured residents with incomes too high to qualify for Medicaid but below 200% of the federal poverty level. Commission spokesperson Stephanie Goodman also said the uninsured probably would not have access to the program until 2010 or 2011 (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 4/9).

On Thursday, some health care advocates said the letter’s tone suggested that state officials would not be able to get federal approval for the plan before the end of President Bush’s term in office. However, Goodman said Heffron’s letter will not affect the progress of the plan. “It’s good that the negotiation process is starting,” she said (Dallas Morning News, 8/22).

Reprinted with permission from kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, and sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork.org/email . The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. © 2007 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

By: kaisernetwork.org – Mon, 08/25/2008 – 16:31

Only 58 percent of Texas physicians are taking new Medicare cases, and only 38 percent of primary care physicians are doing so, according to a study conducted by the Houston Chronicle.

Across the country, only 600,000 of 1.5 million total physicians are currently willing to treat Medicare patients, the study notes.

“We are headed toward a two-tier health system. Unless something changes, we will be rationing care to the elderly the way health care is rationed in Canada,” said John Goodman, president of the National Center for Policy Analysis.

Lobbying for Government Money

“Once again we see the dismal failure of government-run health care. Everyone is bickering about reimbursement rates from politicians, rather than letting the market set prices for the goods and services,” said Michael Quinn Sullivan, president of Empower Texans, a watchdog group dedicated to advocating for fiscal responsibility in Texas government.

“The [Texas Medical Association] and other physician lobbying groups would be better served demanding the market set the rates,” Sullivan continued. “When they go along with the premise of government pricing, it becomes a battle of the best lobbyists, not the rational needs of patients and doctors expressed and priced through the market.”

According to the Texas Medical Association, 78 percent of the state’s physicians took new Medicare patients in 2000, which dropped to 72 percent in 2002 and 68 percent in 2004.

Looming cuts in the rates at which doctors are reimbursed for treating Medicare patients promise to depress those numbers even further in the coming months and years, analysts say.

Dragging Out Funding Debate

The lobbyists succeeded in part on July 15 when Congress overrode President George W. Bush’s veto of legislation that would have again delayed the 10.6 percent Medicare physician reimbursement cut originally scheduled for December 2007 and temporarily extended to July 1. The override prevented the cuts from going into effect.

At the time of his veto, Bush said he supported delaying the reimbursement cuts but did not agree with Congress’s plans to fund that extension by taking away public funding for private health care plans serving the disabled and the elderly.

Though the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has enacted an emergency program to maintain reimbursements at the current rates while Congress continues working on related legislation, the overall financial state of the Medicare program is expected to force rate cuts in the near future.

Analysts say the cuts would lead to an even greater reduction in the number of physicians in Texas and across the country who are willing to accept Medicare cases.

Krystle Russin (krystle@purepolitics.com) writes from Texas.

By: Heartland.org – Mon, 08/25/2008 – 21:35

The U.S. Census Bureau released a report today stating that the number of uninsured in America was down to just 15.3% in 2007. But not in Texas. In 2007, Lone Star state residents went from 23.9% uninsured to 24.8%.

John Greeley, public information officer for the Texas Department of Insurance told Hair Balls:

“Some of the things that we have identified as contributing to the number of uninsured in Texas, with regards to health insurance, are the high number of small businesses that are paying a relatively low wage that we have in the state. Our number of people getting employer coverage is less than in other states. There’s an economic climate in Texas that is very much free enterprise, which affects that. Other factors are that health care cost more here. Also, we have overall lower household wages. Those are some of the factors that we looked at last year and they haven’t really changed.”

Race and place of birth are definitely factors in getting – or rather not getting – health insurance coverage. 32.1% of Hispanics in Texas are uninsured, but in all 49 other states, that rate was less than 20%. (Only Native Americans and Alaskan Natives rivaled the Hispanic rates, at 31.9%.)

For the country as a whole, 43.8% of non-citizens are uninsured, while U.S.-born citizens have only a 12.7% uninsured rate. Greeley said he didn’t have any comments on the possible correlation between race/place of birth and health insurance percentages.

But all hope is not lost.

Greeley says the lack of health insurance coverage in Texas hasn’t gone unnoticed: “Texas has had a number of initiatives started to address the problem of the uninsured. There’s a lot of activity, a lot of legislative activity that is happening. We’re finishing up two interim studies.”

He continues:

“One of them is more affordable options for small businesses to offer health insurance, ways to make it easier for them including premium subsidies, help to cover the cost to the business. We’re also looking at that for individuals, other sources of funds that might be used to cover their health insurance premiums. We’ve also been involved, the Governor’s Office and other state agencies, in seeking a waiver from Medicare that would allow qualified individuals to use funds from Medicare to buy private health insurance.”

Those health insurance programs in Texas should be in place in the next five to ten years. Hope we can stay healthy that long.

Olivia Alvaarez writes for The Rag Blog

By: Olivia Flores Alvarez – Fri, 08/29/2008 – 15:06

The first ever study from U.S. Census Bureau looked at health insurance rates in very details for 2005. Data was analysed and broken down by state, race to show the exact situation in all states.

Researchers found that Texas residents are less likely to be insured compared with all other states. One in four Florida, Texas, and New Mexico residents were uninsured in 2005, compared with only one in 10 of Minnesota and Hawaii residents.

When comparing health insurance rates by states, Texas comes the last with 26.3% of residents younger than 65% having no insurance, New Mexico comes after Texas with 24.2% uninsured residents, and Florida comes after New Mexico with 24.0%. Among the states with lowest percentage of uninsured residents appears Iowa with 10.4% uninsured, Wisconsin with 10.3%, Hawaii with 9.7%, and Minnesota with 9.5%, which has the lowest rates of residents with no health coverage.

According to health insurance rates for races Florida had the highest number of blacks with no insurance – 26.7%, Louisiana and Mississippi had 25% uninsured blacks. Oklahoma had the highest number of white residents with no insurance – 18.2%, while Hawaii had only 7.4% uninsured white residents and 11.4% blacks. Hispanics were found to be less likely to be covered than blacks and whites: Texas had 40.5% uninsured Hispanic residents, compared with 24.3% black and 15.8% white residents, while Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Oklahoma, Oregon, and South Carolina also had the highest rates of uninsured Hispanics – 40%.

“It’s a number, I think, that is way too high,” said David S. Lopez, CEO of the Harris County Hospital District, the safety net for the people without health insurance. “There are two growing populations: the medically indigent and the individuals who are working and their employers no longer provide insurance.”

It could be that the numbers of those for whom the health insurance coverage is not affordable is because of the fact that Texas has a very high number of immigrant population. These people are new in the country. They have low paying jobs and can’t afford health insurance.

Overall, US had 1 in 6 residents younger than 65 with no health insurance coverage at all. And it is not a matter of unemployment, because about 80% of those with no insurance had a full time worker in a family. This means that even those who work are unable to afford health coverage.

By: Ruzanna Haroutiunyan for eMaxHealth – Sat, 10/11/2008 – 06:01

Only 18% of physicians in Austin, Texas, accept all new Medicaid beneficiaries, according to a survey of physicians by the Texas Medical Association, the Austin American-Statesman reports. According to the American-Statesman, %26quot;Austin has become ground zero in what some in the medical community are calling an unfolding Medicaid crisis in Texas.%26quot;

Themedical association’s survey, which is conducted every two years, foundthat the number of physicians accepting all new Medicaid beneficiariesstatewide declined from two-thirds in 2000 to 38% last year. The surveyalso found that 9% of orthopedic surgeons in the state accept all newMedicaid beneficiaries, and the percentages of some other specialistswho accept all new beneficiaries also are in the single digits, the American-Statesman reports. Over the past year, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission said it has paid travel expenses for about 100 Medicaid beneficiaries in Austin to receive care in San Antonio, Texas.

WilliamHinchey, head of the state medical association, said, "Some of usbelieve [Medicaid] has collapsed because these patients do not haveaccess to care like they should." Regina Rogoff, head of the People’sCommunity Clinic in Austin, said Medicaid in the state has "effectivelycollapsed," adding, "If the state paid a fair rate for Medicaid, thenthose patients would be able to be seen in the private sector."

However,Stephanie Goodman, a spokesperson for the commission, said, "I couldnot disagree more strongly with that." Goodman said that the programhas problems but is still functional, adding, "We pay for more thanhalf of all births and two-thirds of all nursing home care. It is ahuge program and takes up a quarter of the state’s budget. Are thereissues out there? Yes. But the good works shouldn’t be lost."

Goodmansaid the situation should improve after Medicaid reimbursement rates tophysicians are increased Sept 1. Some of the increases are required bya settlementin a 14-year-old class-action lawsuit filed by parents of childrenreceiving Medicaid benefits who had difficulty finding physiciansbecause of low reimbursements. Reimbursements for physicians who carefor child beneficiaries will increase by an average of 25%, andreimbursements to dentists who treat children will increase by 50%. Thestate Legislature also increased physician reimbursements for adultcare by 10% (Jaspin, Austin American-Statesman, 8/6).
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Reprinted with permission fromkaisernetwork.org.You can view the entire KaiserDaily Health Policy Report, search the archives, andsign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork.org/email. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published forkaisernetwork.org,a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. 2007Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rightsreserved.

By: kaisernetwork.org – Fri, 08/10/2007 – 10:28

With the launch of the Precedent | Remix individual health insurance products at www.precedent.com, the health insurance industry has moved to an online retail model, just as so many other products — such as auto insurance — have done successfully in the past few years.

"Precedent is offering Texans a ground-breaking suite of individual health plans that meet the specific needs of the young and healthy, especially the uninsured," said Mike Grandstaff, Precedent’s CEO. "We are offering very affordable coverage with the built-in flexibility to increase coverage levels through our ‘Coverage on Demand’ model, which is truly unique to the industry."

Coverage on Demand allows individuals to purchase a highly affordable lower level of coverage, with the guaranteed ability to increase their level of coverage within a plan year to cover any unanticipated illness or accident, up to $5 million, even after incurring such expenses.

U.S. Census Bureau data show that nearly 50 million Americans were uninsured in 2005, with more than 5.5 million uninsured in Texas. The Lone Star State ranks an unenviable first in the country in the percentage of uninsured residents at 25 percent.

"Everyone deserves affordable health insurance. What we are saying is don’t buy more insurance than you need," said Grandstaff. "With Precedent, you can lock in access to additional coverage if you need it — even after the fact — with no questions asked. That’s true peace of mind, both for young adults and their parents, who probably feel that they’re the ones who are on the hook if something unexpected happens."

With monthly premiums that average around $100 per month for healthy, young individuals, Precedent | REMIX health insurance plans are highly affordable. The Coverage on Demand products include "Tempo", a zero deductible plan that pays 60% of in-network eligible medical expenses; "Rhythm", with a $250 deductible that pays 70%; and "Groove", a $500 deductible plan that pays 80%. (All plans pay 60% of prescription drug costs and provide an annual wellness benefit of $400, in both cases waiving any deductibles). Maximum paid claims at the initial level are $1000 for Tempo, $2,500 for Rhythm and $5,000 for Groove. But the unique twist to these plans is that additional coverage up to $5 million is guaranteed, at 100% in network, in the event of an unforeseen contingency such as a traffic accident or appendectomy, even after the need arises.

"This approach of sharing the risk of unanticipated claims, rather than simply sharing the cost up front, is completely new to the U.S. health insurance market," said Tia Goss Sawhney, Precedent’s Chief Strategy Officer. "It’s one of those innovative ideas that leaves you wondering why no one thought of it before. The policyholder gets something for his or her money at a lower monthly premium, with remarkably good odds of never needing more coverage. And they have guaranteed access to additional coverage if needed. That is a tremendous incentive to be a smart consumer and buy individual health insurance the easy and affordable way through Precedent."

"The insurance industry has to become more retail focused," said Grandstaff. "On the heels of virtually every other business, it’s time for innovative health insurance products designed especially for the young adult sector of the population, with a marketing message specific to them. It’s also time for the health insurance industry to deliver the instantaneous sales experience that this segment of the market craves."

Because Precedent’s business is conducted online, and through toll-free access to licensed sales representatives at 1-8-PRECEDENT (1-877-323-3368), rather than through sales agents, the company will also be launching a blog authored by Grandstaff. The blog is designed to help educate the public about the role of health insurance consumerism within the online and social media space.

By: Precedent Insurance – Tue, 09/18/2007 – 12:23

Texas’ Health and Human Services Commissionofficials on Thursday announced that the state has sufficient moneyfrom existing federal allotments to continue covering SCHIPbeneficiaries for at least one year, regardless of the fate of federal legislation that would reauthorize and expand the program, the Houston Chroniclereports. HHSC spokesperson Stephanie Goodman said the state also hassufficient funds to cover an expected enrollment increase of 135,000children. The increase was approved by the state Legislature as part ofa measure that reversed cuts made in 2003, when the state faced abudget crisis.

According to Center for Public Policy PrioritiesAssociate Director Anne Dunkelberg, Texas will need additional federalfunds in coming years if the state wants to cover the 300,000 childreneligible but not enrolled in the program, as well as pregnant women.Texas’ version of SCHIP covers children in families with incomes at orbelow 200% of the federal poverty level (Elliott, Houston Chronicle, 10/12).
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Reprinted with permission fromkaisernetwork.org.You can view the entire KaiserDaily Health Policy Report, search the archives, andsign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork.org/email. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published forkaisernetwork.org,a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. 2007Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rightsreserved.

By: kaisernetwork.org – Tue, 10/16/2007 – 10:54

More than850,000 of Texas’1.5 million uninsured children are eligible for SCHIP or Medicaid but are notenrolled in the programs, Texas Health and HumanServices ExecutiveCommissioner Albert Hawkins said Tuesday, the AustinAmerican-Statesman reports. Of those children, 75% qualify for Medicaid coverage and therest qualify for SCHIP. The figures are based on an analysis of census data bythe state HHS.

Hawkins said the state has initiated new efforts to enroll eligible children. Headded that a model used in Houston,which uses the city’s 17 largest churches to help people enroll in theprograms, could be expanded statewide. In October, the state began callingpeople who had applied but were missing information on their forms, rather thansending a letter, Elisa Garza, the state’s SCHIP director, said. The state pays$3.5 million to 28 organizations to help reach and enroll children in theprograms. It also distributes fliers in English, Spanish and Vietnamese andbroadcasts radio advertisements (MacLaggan, Austin American-Statesman,11/28).

Reprintedwith permission from kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, and sign upfor email delivery at kaisernetwork.org/email . The Kaiser Daily Health PolicyReport is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J.Kaiser Family Foundation. 2007 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser FamilyFoundation. All rights reserved.

By: kaisernetwork.org – Thu, 11/29/2007 – 18:25

Underthe program, working Texas residents ages 19 or older could apply forsubsidies to pay health insurance premiums for private oremployer-sponsored coverage. Texas HHS Commissioner Albert Hawkins saidthat about 2.1 million adults would be eligible for subsidies and thatfunding would be distributed on a first-come, first-serve basis (Dallas Morning News, 12/5).

The state has about 5.5 million uninsured residents (MacLaggan, Austin American-Statesman,12/6). The program initially would target the 480,000 uninsured parentsand siblings of children enrolled in SCHIP. Having a family member inSCHIP means they would meet income requirements for the subsidy,according to the Star-Telegram (Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 12/6). "We want to create a culture of insurance in our state," Hawkins said (Austin American-Statesman, 12/6).

Hawkinssaid that the state’s safety-net hospitals would not lose funding underthe program because lawmakers approved $150 million in reimbursementincreases in 2008 for hospitals that treat Medicaid beneficiaries,which would be matched by $246 million in federal funding. According toHawkins, the additional federal funding could be used to fund theHealth Opportunity Pool without reducing the $1.5 billion in federalfunds hospitals receive annually for treating a disproportionate shareof uninsured, low-income patients (Dallas Morning News, 12/5).

Reprinted with permission from kaisernetwork.org. Youcan view the entire Kaiser DailyHealth Policy Report, search the archives, and sign up for email deliveryat kaisernetwork.org/email. The Kaiser Daily HealthPolicy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The HenryJ. Kaiser Family Foundation. 2007 Advisory Board Company and KaiserFamily Foundation. All rights reserved.

By: kaisernetwork.org – Mon, 12/10/2007 – 18:27