Congressman Roger Wiliams
Texas Insider Report: WASHINGTON D.C. This weekend I co-authored an op-ed in the Austin American-Statesman with Chris Born president of Dell Childrens Medical Center on the Advancing Care for Exceptional (ACE) Kids Act.
See below for the full text and here for the link to the article.
Congress
recently came together in a bipartisan effort to pass the Advancing Care for
Exceptional (ACE) Kids Act which directly benefits the kids and families that
Dell Childrens Medical Center serves here in Central Texas. The ACE Kids Act
creates a new model that improves care for children with complex medical needs
who are covered under Medicaid while also reducing the program spending
totals.
A small percentage of the millions of children covered under Medicaid have very
complex medical issues that account for a disproportionate amount of the
spending. These exceptional children also face additional challenges
especially when finding the right care requires them to cross state lines. The
ACE Kids Act improves coordination across multiple providers and services
which increases options and ease of access.
This innovative new model would expand access to patient-centered
pediatric-focused coordinated care programs that are designed for children with
medical complexity.
The ACE program has a proven success record and has been tested across 10
different childrens hospitals with eight different Medicaid programs. In the
first full year of operation with the ACE Kids method the test group
coordinated care for 8000 children reduced overall costs by 2.6 percent and
improved the overall patient experience. The ACE Kids Act will enable these
innovations to be shared with medical providers throughout the country.
One of the premier healthcare providers for children and adolescents is here in
Central Texas Dell Childrens Medical Center. For nearly 12 years Dell
Childrens Medical Center has served over 77000 kids annually in their
inpatient and outpatient departments with over 40 specialized programs.
As the only comprehensive childrens hospital and level 1 trauma center in
Central Texas the medical center uniquely cares for children with complex
medical needs in a 46-county service area. Passage of this act will provide
national consistency and a common model for care already being provided for
children with complex medical needs through the Childrens Comprehensive Care
Clinic at Dell Childrens Medical Center. The ACE Kids Act will also simplify
the process and make it easier for children to cross state lines for medical
care if needed.
Children like 4-year-old Rowan have been cared for by the specially trained
staff at Dell Childrens since she was born. Rowans complex medical condition
requires specialized continuous care at the hospital and its Childrens
Comprehensive Care Clinic where the nurses and doctors have a special
relationship with her. Her condition also requires out-of-state medical care.
Rowan is an energetic little girl who loves to laugh and play despite the pain
she experiences every day. Rowan was diagnosed with recessive dystrophic
epidermolysis bullosa as a newborn which means that she is missing the glue"
that holds her skin to her body. The surface of her body can blister and shear
off leaving wounds like second-degree burns so Rowan must be bandaged from
the neck down to cover wounds and prevent infection. Rowans family is thankful
for the passage of the ACE Kids Act. This important piece of legislation
supports the coordination of her care in Austin and in other states and helps
advance innovation in the quality cost and delivery of care at Dell Childrens
Medical Center and other childrens hospitals.
Stories like this further prove why we must continue to innovate and improve
how we care for our most vulnerable especially for the families who are
working through some of the most complex pediatric issues. We are proud to be
leading this effort in Central Texas and look forward to sharing our successes
with the country.
Williams represents Austin
in the U.S. House of Representatives. Born is president of Dell Childrens
Medical Center.
