Experts Share Views on Health Care Issues
from The Dallas Morning News, May 18, 2009
 At The Dallas Morning News' invitation, eleven health care experts from the Dallas-Fort Worth area and Texas recently shared their views via e-mail on how to make health care more affordable and accessible. More
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Texas Health Insurers Pay Out Less for Smaller Employers
from The Dallas Morning News via KVUE News Austin, May 18, 2009
Texas health insurers pay care providers just 72 cents of each dollar they collect in premiums from small employers, with the rest going to overhead, profits and taxes, according to a study by a think tank that advocates for the poor. For larger employers, the health underwriters paid out more – an average of 84 percent of premiums paid between 2003 and 2006. Still, the percentage of claims paid by the industry in Texas appears to be lower than nationwide, says a report from the Center for Public Policy Priorities. More
Activists Seek Justice Department Probe of Insurers
from The Associated Press, May 20, 2009
Activists backing President Barack Obama's health care overhaul are asking the Justice Department to open a wide-ranging investigation of what they say is monopoly-like power in the hands of major insurers. The move by Health Care for America Now has consequences for the debate on Capitol Hill, since health insurers have been working closely with lawmakers to find a compromise that would expand coverage and curb cost. More
Texas House Approves New Physical Education Plan
from The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, May 20, 2009
With more than 40 percent of Texas fourth-graders obese, overweight or at risk of getting there, state lawmakers tried to do something Tuesday about the growing problem. The House gave early approval to a bill by Sen. Jane Nelson that is intended to redefine physical education guidelines and develop a PE curriculum that children can use and enjoy throughout their lives. More
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Bills Would Boost CHIP Coverage
from The Houston Chronicle, May 15, 2009
Even amid tough times, the penny-pinching Texas Legislature has agreed to try to ease the burden of families without health insurance by allowing more to be covered by the Children's Insurance Program. With Texas having more uninsured children than any other state, versions of a bill have passed in both the House and Senate to allow some families who make too much for CHIP coverage to buy into the program - and to expand health coverage for others. More
Doctors Hooked
from KABB-TV, May 17, 2009
You go to the doctor to get help. But what if it is your physician who really needs the assistance? To watch the video interview with TMA member Robert Jones, MD, visit KABB-TV and click on the News Video tab. More
Not So Well
from The Monitor, May 15, 2009
The numbers confirmed the daunting task that Dr. Carlos Cardenas and other medical professionals in the Rio Grande Valley face on a daily basis. While doctors see things on the front lines before they are reflected in medical statistics, Cardenas said two reports released Friday by an Austin-based think tank verify his belief that Hidalgo County children face more barriers to success than other children in the state. More
Texas Smoking Ban Won’t Survive Legislative Session, Sponsors Say
from The Dallas Morning News, May 20, 2009
Sponsors of a statewide smoking ban conceded that the issue is lost for this legislative session. Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, blamed the smooth, silent wisps left by the tobacco lobby for killing the measure that would have banned smoking in public places, mirroring ordinances in more than 20 Texas cities. More
Drug Deals Tie Prices to How Well Patients Do
from The New York Times
Pressed by insurance companies, some drug makers are beginning to adjust what they charge for their drugs, based on how well the medicines improve patients’ health. Two companies that jointly sell the osteoporosis drug Actonel recently agreed to reimburse the insurer Health Alliance for the costs of treating fractures suffered by patients taking that medicine. “We’re standing behind our product,” said Dan Hecht, general manager of the North American pharmaceutical business of Procter & Gamble, which sells Actonel with Sanofi-Aventis. “We’re willing to put our money where our mouth is.” More
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Health Care Leaders Say Obama Overstated Their Promise to Control Costs
from The New York Times, May 14, 2009
Hospitals and insurance companies said that President Obama had substantially overstated their promise to reduce the growth of health spending. Mr. Obama invited health industry leaders to the White House to trumpet their cost-control commitments. But three days later, confusion swirled in Washington as the companies’ trade associations raced to tamp down angst among members around the country. More
Medical Practice Interaction with Insurers Costs Over $21 Billion Annually
from Healthcare Finance News, May 14, 2009
A recent study has found that medical practices spend between $21 billion and $31 billion annually dealing with insurers - or more than $68,000 per physician per year. Conducted by Weil Cornell Medical College, the University of Toronto, the University of Chicago and the Medical Group Management Association, "The Costs to Physician Practices of Interactions with Health Insurance Plans," found that physicians spend three hours per week - or 43 minutes on average per workday - interacting with health insurance. More
House OKs Changes to Smokeless Tobacco Tax
from The Associated Press via The Houston Chronicle, May 12, 2009
The Texas House tentatively approved a measure aimed at drawing more doctors to underserved areas that relies on a much-debated change to the smokeless tobacco tax. The bill would take any additional revenue gained from the tax change and apply it to a state medical school loan repayment program that doctors could apply for after working in an underserved area for at least a year. More
Dallas Operating Room First to Use Twitter
from KERA News, May 18, 2009
A successful kidney transplant for a three year old boy at Children's Medical Center in Dallas added Twitter to the surgical team. Officials say it was a first for a U.S. hospital. Dr. Mouin Seikaly, head of the transplant program, says family members usually get updates via telephone every half hour or so. With Twitter, it was constant updating by a designated "tweeter" in the operating room. More
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