By: John Hawkins, President and CEO, THA   At the start of this month, the federal government shut down for the first time in nearly seven years. This column is written in advance, and it’s possible that by the time you’re reading this, Democrats and Republicans will have ended their standoff and found at least a short-term funding solution to keep the government open. We at the Texas Hospital Association hope that occurs.   But...

BY John Hawkins, President and CEO, THA   During the special session of the Texas Legislature that just wrapped up, we at the Texas Hospital Association once again had to focus on one of our highest-level – and highest-priority – points that we repeatedly come back to with lawmakers. That perennial message is this:   Hospitals are unique, and so are their circumstances. A one-size-fits-all mandate or prohibition in our state – whether driven by...

BY John Hawkins, President and CEO, THA   A fair number of times in this column’s history, you’ve seen me come back to Texas’ uninsured rate. It’s on our minds constantly at THA, because it’s the highest in the nation – more than 16%, at last accounting – and because good health coverage and good health care go hand in hand.   We’re always looking to get more Texans covered – and preserve anything that’s...

BY John Hawkins, President & CEO, THA   It occupied our time and our minds as much as any issue can while sharing the stage with a state legislative session. For nearly six months, it consumed us. But we made sure it didn’t consume Texas Medicaid.   When negotiations began in Congress early this year on a federal budget “mega-bill” that targeted Medicaid cuts as a major cost offset, we at the Texas Hospital Association...

BY John Hawkins   There’s never been a legislative session quite like this one.   Granted, in saying that, I’m only speaking for my time at the Texas Hospital Association, which now covers 21 years and 11 regular sessions of the Texas Legislature. But I can tell you that never, during any of those past sessions, did we have the usual 140-day firehose coming from the state Capitol accompanied by another, equally important blast of...

BY John Hawkins, President and CEO, THA   Since talk of a major congressional budget package began several months ago, our Texas Hospital Association has been stressing that Medicaid – the source of health coverage for more than 4 million Texans – couldn’t handle a seismic and sudden upset.   Based on where things stand at this writing, we’ve made progress. But there’s a long way to go, and the future of Medicaid funding in...

By: John Hawkins, President and CEO, THA   There is nothing more central to the mission of a hospital than saving lives. If you want our Texas Hospital Association to throw our support behind a bill, the quickest route to opening that discussion is to tell us that the bill will save lives and then show us how.   Saving lives is the very reason THA is supporting one of the most consequential – and...

By John Hawkins There’s a lot of talk about government efficiency these days. Whether it’s in Washington, D.C., at the Texas Capitol or on your television, right now there’s no missing it. Much of it centers on financial concerns: whether our tax dollars are being used in a lean and worthwhile manner. But other times, realizing efficiency might be simpler than that; for example, it might be just a matter of making sure everyone has...

BY John Hawkins, President and CEO, THA   Typically, policy disagreements we at the Texas Hospital Association have with other advocates involve reasonable minds presenting differing viewpoints with a credible basis. But here and there, it feels like we’re arguing against believers in a flat Earth – situations where we’re in the position of using settled, established science to fight junk science and dubious anecdotal information.   Increasingly, that’s the vibe around vaccines. Despite all...

By John Hawkins, President & CEO, THA   It’s not uncommon for the Texas Legislature to lay an unusual issue at our feet, something that’s never been a point of contention in our work at the Capitol. In the first days of the Legislature’s 89th session, which kicked off on Jan. 14, we find ourselves addressing something we don’t normally touch on with lawmakers: bollards.   While “bollards” isn’t a widely recognized word, they are...