Texas Hospitals Urge Legislature to Protect Funding for Local Hospitals, Doctors and Nurses
| Slashing state funds shifts burden to local taxpayers, those with insurance | |||
|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
|
||
|
(AUSTIN - March 29, 2011) – Leaders from the Texas Hospital Association and other hospital groups today urged members of the Texas House of Representatives to protect funding for local hospitals, doctors and nurses.
The House later this week is expected to begin consideration of its proposed version of the state budget for the next biennium – a proposal that could mean funding cuts of as much as 37 percent for some hospitals. “Our message is simple: hospitals are on call 24/7. The blue H sign you see as you drive along the highway or on city streets promises help and hope. But that promise is in jeopardy if the cuts proposed by budget writers in the House are approved,” said Dan Stultz, M.D., FACHE, FACP, president and chief executive officer of the Texas Hospital Association. “The proposed budget before the House cuts into the core. Hospital services – and jobs – will be lost, and not just temporarily. These cuts won’t heal.” Among the proposed budget cuts that would impact health care and especially hospitals are the following:
Bill Webster, chief executive officer of Medical Center Health System in Odessa and chairman of the THA board, noted that state cuts as proposed by the House would result in shifting more costs to the local level, which could mean higher local taxes. “State cuts will also mean the loss of federal matching dollars, which means our Texas tax dollars will go to pay for health care in other states, like California and New York. The cost will also shift to people with health insurance,” he said. “Low-income children and pregnant women don’t stop needing health care just because the state didn’t budget enough. If they can’t find a doctor or a clinic, they come to the ER, where by state and federal law, our hospital must assess and stabilize them,” Webster continued. Rural hospitals and children’s hospitals – which are heavily dependent on government programs like Medicaid – will be especially hard hit. Rural hospitals, which often operate on razor-thin margins, may be forced to drop key services, such as obstetrics, or close altogether. Stultz warned that Texas risks losing its reputation as an economic powerhouse as deep cuts in health care create a ripple effect throughout local communities and local businesses. “Hospitals will do their part to improve performance and reduce costs through better efficiency. But the big problem in Medicaid is the growth in caseload due to the state’s demographics and the continued economic downturn,” Stultz said. “When the state fails to adequately fund health care services, the burden is shifted to local taxpayers and to private employers who provide health insurance for their employees. The need for health care does not disappear even if funding does.” THA urged lawmakers to look at other options to help mitigate funding cuts, including generating additional revenue, using more of the rainy day fund, fixing the structural problems in the business tax system and modifying tax exemptions. Hospitals statewide will be contacting members of the Texas House of Representatives all week to urge them to mitigate the proposed cuts in the House budget. THA also has launched a website, www.SomeCutsDontHeal.org, to inform the general public about the impact of proposed state budget cuts on health care. *** About Texas Hospital Association |
|||
