DFW Hospital Council (DFWHC) President/CEO Stephen Love penned a story this week in D CEO Healthcare providing a counterpoint to hospital consolidation. In the post titled “The Other Side of the Hospital Consolidation Story,” Love stated that recent articles citing hospitals as the main driver of escalating healthcare expenses were not entirely accurate.

“According to the American Medical Association, hospitals represent 31.1 percent of the total healthcare costs in the U.S.,” said Love in his article. “This is less than one-third of total healthcare costs. So, why are these think tanks and business coalitions ignoring 69.9% of healthcare expenditures in the articles they produce and distribute to legislators?”

Love said one of the reasons there is bad medical debt in Texas is because the state legislature has refused to pass Medicaid expansion since the inception of the Affordable Care Act.

“Medicaid expansion will not solve all the problems but would serve as another tool to help with medical coverage for approximately 1.5 million people,” said Love.

You can read the full story here.