TMA Physicians and Legislators: "Patients Have a Right to Know"
from The Texas Medical Association, March 25, 2009
 The Texas Medical Association (TMA) has joined with state legislators to launch initiatives that would make using health insurance better and much easier for Texas patients. The problem: Too often patients do not understand their health insurance information and cannot easily find the answers. Click here to view a video with supplemental information. More
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Report: Texas Health Insurance Costs Have Risen 7 Times Faster Than Incomes
from The Dallas Morning News, March 24, 2009
Armed with new data showing that the cost of health insurance in Texas is soaring seven times faster than incomes, the Texas Hospital Association and the National Federation of Independent Business/Texas on Tuesday pushed lawmakers to pass bills aimed at making health care more affordable and accessible. More
Bills Target Doctor Shortage
from The Brownsville Herald, March 22, 2009
House Bill 1876, filed by Rep. Richard Raymond, D-Laredo, and Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, would establish the Texas Health Care Access Fund to help repay the debt of doctors and other health professionals if they commit to serving in high-need areas. "We feel there's a definite need for primary care physicians to have a loan-repayment program, but we don't feel this particular bill is the way to go about it," Dr. Albert Gros, chairman of Texas Medical Association's Council on Legislation, said. More
Opinion: Border Not Getting Designated Funds
from El Paso Times, March 23, 2009
Our elected officials must do a better job overseeing state and federal money that's disbursed to Texas communities. Last week, there was well-deserved criticism that border security money -- namely crime-fighting tools -- never made it to the border. And recently, the president of the Texas Medical Association, Dr. Josie R. Williams, told the El Paso Times Editorial Board that it's the poor border areas that qualify for federal health-care money, but those areas don't regularly get their share of those allotments disbursed from Austin. More
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Insurers Offer to Stop Charging Sick People More
from The Associated Press via The Dallas Morning News, March 24, 2009
The health insurance industry offered Tuesday for the first time to curb its controversial practice of charging higher premiums to people with a history of medical problems. The offer from America's Health Insurance Plans and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association is a potentially significant shift in the debate over reforming the nation's health care system to rein in costs and cover an estimated 48 million uninsured people. It was contained in a letter to key senators. More
Foes Take Power Plant Fight to Austin
from The Corpus Christie Caller-Times, March 25, 2009
Some local opponents of the Las Brisas Energy Center took their fight Tuesday to the State Capitol in testimony supporting a bill that would place a two-year moratorium on such power plants. Corpus Christi resident Carolyn Moon testified on behalf of the Beach Access Coalition that the group is worried about sea level rise from global warming, which has been linked to carbon dioxide. She also gave the committee letters opposing the plant from the Nueces County Medical Society and Texas Medical Association. More
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Study: Texas Leads Nation in Uninsured
from El Paso Times, March 25, 2009
Texas has the highest percentage of residents without health insurance, according to a national study released Tuesday. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found that 24 percent of the state's population, or 5.4 million people, lacked health coverage in 2006-07. This number included people in the work force and people not in the labor pool, such as children. Overall, the report said, Texas had the worst numbers. But in New Mexico, more than 25 percent of the work force lacked health insurance in 2006-07. More
Deal Offers Dual Benefits for Doctors
from The Houston Chronicle, March 21, 2009
Worried about the increasing difficulty of finding doctors and dentists for the state’s poorest children, Texas is offering to repay as much as $140,000 in student loans for those who agree to accept Medicaid patients. The Department of Health and Human Services began taking applications March 1; the first group of recipients will be selected in June. More than 80 dentists and physicians applied within the first two weeks, said Stephanie Goodman, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services. More
Beaumont Doctor Talks Tort Reform with Republican Lawmakers in Washington
from The Southeast Texas Record, March 19, 2009
Many Republicans in Congress are looking at ways to curb the negative impact of excessive lawsuits on the nation's economy, so a local doctor went to Capitol Hill recently to show them how it can be done "Texas Style." Dr. David Teuscher, an orthopedic surgeon with the Beaumont Bone and Joint Institute, participated as a panelist at "Protecting Main Street from Lawsuit Abuse," a discussion hosted by the Senate Republican Conference and chaired by Texas' own U.S. Sen. John Cornyn. More
Senate Panel Hears Ultrasound Bill
from The Houston Chronicle, March 19, 2009
Doctors would be required to perform an ultrasound before performing an abortion, but the woman could refuse to view or discuss the findings, under a bill given a hearing in the Texas Senate on Thursday. Giving the woman the option to not be told about the findings is a significant change in what could be the first major abortion bill to be passed in Texas since 2005, when lawmakers required unmarried girls under 18 to have a parent's consent. More
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