Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas The federal health overhaul could dry up funds that the states academic medical centers use to produce doctors in Texas leaders of the University of Texas 6 health science centers warned Wednesday.
The medical school presidents said theyre not necessarily opposed to the sweeping legislation signed by President Barack Obama last spring but they worry that their centers may absorb deep financial hits if they dont adapt to a changed marketplace and cut costs.
Weve got incredibly robust institutions but theyre inherently fragile Daniel Podolsky president of UT Southwestern Medical Center told reporters after the presidents briefed UT regents about the new federal law.
Kirk Calhoun president of the UT Health Science Center at Tyler said that instead of describing the new law as good or bad he prefers to say it creates a new normal. He said it will require medical schools and their teaching
hospitals to be more nimble.
Kenneth Shine the UT systems executive vice chancellor for health affairs said the Legislature currently provides state funds to cover only $200000 of the average $800000 cost of educating a physician in Texas.
Much of the rest comes from practice plans in which medical professors are paid from hospital patients insurance payments and from additional federal
funds for treating a lot of low-income patients he said.
Under the federal legislation Disproportionate Share Hospital payments under Medicaid and Medicare will be cut drastically starting in 2014.
Shine said revenue to the schools practice plans also may be at risk. Thats because to varying degrees the six schools rely heavily on Medicare and Medicaid patients.
Shine said he expects concern over federal deficits and rising health care costs to bring cuts in providers fees under both of the big government health
insurance programs.
Regardless of what people tell you about savings from the law there is going to be enormous pressure on reimbursement and itll come in a variety of forms he predicted.
The vice chancellor said the six schools have tried to save money by purchasing supplies and equipment as a group. Each campus also is experimenting with electronic medical records and medical home programs in which the chronically ill are given more supervision after being discharged Shine said.
insurance programs.
Regardless of what people tell you about savings from the law there is going to be enormous pressure on reimbursement and itll come in a variety of forms he predicted.
The vice chancellor said the six schools have tried to save money by purchasing supplies and equipment as a group. Each campus also is experimenting with electronic medical records and medical home programs in which the chronically ill are given more supervision after being discharged Shine said.
