At Lyons & Lyons, we hear stories every day about the tragic effects of low-quality health care in Texas. We can only help a select few of those injured, and only after they’ve suffered some immeasurable, utterly preventable loss.
We cannot help but wonder why.
Sky-High Costs
Texas ranks 5th most expensive in the nation for healthcare, with average annual employer-based premiums for single-plus-one coverage totaling $4,626 and family coverage at $7,051, placing us near the top nationally for costs.
What Texans Get (or Don’t Get)
Texas hovers near the bottom for overall healthcare system performance; 49th or 50th in recent national rankings, barely above Mississippi. We’re 29th in U.S. News health care rankings, but far lower in critical metrics like access and equity. We rank 48th in Commonwealth Fund’s 2023 Scorecard on State Health System Performance. 45th according to Wallethub; 41st in affordability, 49th in access, 38th in outcomes.
Texas has among the highest uninsured rates in the country: ~22% of adults and ~12% of children are uninsured.
Texas has fewest primary-care providers, especially in rural areas. Texas ranks 47th in primary care provider (PCP) per 100k and 49th in mental-health access.
Texas ranks 2nd-to-last (50th) for children’s healthcare quality on 33 indicators—despite top-tier pediatric hospitals, Texas children suffer from high uninsured rates and poor access to preventive and dental care.
Meanwhile… Cha-Ching!
Texas ranks near the top for profitability. It has the most for-profit hospitals in the country. Nine of the largest twenty for-profit hospitals are in Texas. Texas has the highest percentage of for-profit hospitals at 51.1%.
And healthcare providers in Texas enjoy, and have since 2003, the most generous “tort reform” protection from liability for medical errors. Texas’ $250,000 per provider cap on non-economic medical malpractice damages is the lowest such cap in the United States. The evidence is in; draconian tort reform does not help.
Bottom line
Texans pay a top-tier price yet rank at the bottom for coverage, access, and outcomes, Problem #1 is too many people do not have coverage or affordable preventative care. Some pay with their life or health; we all pay with our pocketbooks.
Make a call, send a text or email…
Please, call your state and federal representatives and senators, today, and tell them Texans need common sense healthcare solutions like: expanded Medicare and Medicaid coverage, not fewer covered by it; more primary-care and rural mental-health services; and more robust childhood immunizations and screenings, especially for the most economically vulnerable.
