High Costs of Health Care Affect Us All

Staggering increases in insurance premiums over the past decade in Texas only further emphasize the need for comprehensive health care reform. Individuals who are insured are paying higher premiums, higher deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses while receiving fewer benefits. In the past nine years, Texas workers have seen their insurance premiums rise from $6,638 to $12,271- a 91.6 percent increase which far outpaces the 19.7 percent increase in wages. Furthermore, less than 50 percent of Texans receive health insurance from their employer. Texans who are insured are also footing the bill for the uninsured. According to the Baylor Health Care System in Dallas, insured patients are charged 150 percent of actual costs to cover costs for the uninsured.

To learn more about the effect of the uninsured on Texas families, read the Dallas Morning News article: Cost of Care: 'Vicious circle' of uninsured results in higher bills for health coverage, taxes in Dallas-Fort Worth.

Additionally, our current health care system rewards doctors and hospitals for the amount of procedures and tests they conduct instead of performance-based outcomes. This practice has caused health care spending to soar without yielding better results. According to the Commonwealth Fund, Texas ranks 46th in quality of care even though Medicare spending in the state is among the highest in the nation.

To learn more about increasing health care expenses, read the Dallas Morning News article: Dallas sees no relief in health care expenses as competition drives up costs.

Health reform will benefit all Texans and Americans. It will benefit the insured, uninsured and underinsured, along with local and state governments who often subsidize care for those without insurance. Health insurance reform will require personal responsibility, allow those without insurance to purchase quality, affordable care, and lower costs for all Texans.

In Washington, 564 amendments have been offered to the health care legislation introduced by Senator Max Baucus (D-Montana), Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. You can read all the amendments here.

As this process moves relatively quickly, we will try to keep you up to date regularly. In an effort to keep informed, you may receive more emails from us than usual.