Special to Medical Journal – Houston By TED SHAW, President/CEO, Texas Hospital Association   When the gavel fell on Memorial Day to wrap the 2021 legislative session, we knew that lawmakers would return to the capital city for at least one special session. Gov. Greg Abbott convened state lawmakers earlier this month to address a number of his priorities that did not pass during the regular session. A directive to prohibit the delivery or mailing...

By Ted Shaw, President/CEO, Texas Hospital Association . Following a year of uncertainty, stress, and burnout in 2020, many of us were hopeful that the 2021 legislative session would be relatively quiet, focus on the important issues and short on political posturing. While the session may have begun that way, tranquility and order rarely last to sine die. On top of the many consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, the state also had to grapple with...

By Ted Shaw, President/CEO, Texas Hospital Association About a week before U.S. Census data revealed that Texas would gain two additional congressional seats—the most of any state in the nation—we learned that our state’s ability to provide health care services would dramatically shrink. Last month, the federal health agency over Medicaid and Medicare abruptly announced that it had rescinded Texas’ historic 10-year Medicaid 1115 Waiver extension, worth $100 billion through Sept. 30, 2030. Access to...

By Ted Shaw, President/CEO, Texas Hospital Association   For the first time in years, Republican and Democratic state lawmakers are united in supporting legislation to expand health care coverage in Texas. Senate Bill 117/House Bill 3871, known as the Live Well Texas Plan, is the first promising package to expand health care coverage in Texas that the legislature has seen in nearly a decade.   The plan boasts strong bipartisan support and provides a path...

By Ted Shaw, President/CEO, Texas Hospital Association   Next to our health care heroes, grocery store employees have been among the most visible of Texas’ frontline workers. They have earned a reputation for supporting the state during its most challenging and darkest days.   Amid the pandemic, a statewide stay at home order and the winter storm that rendered the state largely inert—without power and water and roads that were impassable due to snow, ice...

By Ted Shaw, President/CEO, Texas Hospital Association As COVID-19 vaccines continue to flow to patients across the state, Texas health care providers have another reason to be hopeful for the future. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently approved a monumental 10-year extension of a Medicaid waiver that provides critically needed stability to the health care safety net in Texas. Last year, Texas hospitals incurred more than $4.6 billion in uncompensated care costs. Then,...

By Ted Shaw, President/CEO, Texas Hospital Association With the new year comes new opportunities and a renewed focus on our goals for the future. COVID-19 vaccination is underway, and Texas hospitals hope for a healthy future. But herd immunity is just one part of ensuring a healthy future for Texas residents. Texas hospitals have several public policy priorities for the 87th Texas Legislature, which recently convened in Austin for its 140-day legislative session. Reducing the...

By Ted Shaw, President/CEO, Texas Hospital Association Almost a year ago, COVID-19 was a deadly disease at arm’s length from the United States – an issue overseas we watched and hoped would stay boxed in and contained. We expected limited impact on health and human life. Today, COVID-19 is our central focus as we head into the holidays. In 2020, we faced shortages of staff, testing supplies and personal protective equipment. We fought desperately for...

By Ted Shaw, President/CEO, Texas Hospital Association   Texas is leading the case that landed the Affordable Care Act in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court. The state argues that the ACA is unconstitutional because the U.S. Congress eliminated the penalty for not complying with the individual mandate—the part of the law that requires people to maintain a minimum level of health insurance. For a state with the most uninsured residents in the nation...

By Ted Shaw, President/CEO, Texas Hospital Association The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are deep and wide-ranging. From our health to our pocketbooks, there are few people this public health and economic crisis has not touched. The pandemic certainly created new challenges. And in some cases, it exacerbated existing ones. We now have the chance to use innovation and ingenuity to solve new challenges and triumph over the old ones. Accessing necessary medical care has...