In response to a Wall Street Journal article giving state-by-state comparisons of health care costs, Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council President and CEO Steve Love was interviewed by Bill Hethcock of the Dallas Business Journal in his blog posted April 9.

Health-care spending in the U.S. averaged $6,815 per person in 2009; in Texas it averaged $5,924, according to The Wall Street Journal article.

“Not bad, but there’s room for improvement,” Love said. “Obesity is hurting us in Texas. It’s one of the highest obesity rates in the nation.”

Love also said reimbursement reductions to hospital providers in the U.S. since 2010 have totaled $250 billion counting health care reform-related Medicare and Medicaid cuts, sequester-related cuts and others.

“We cannot afford to reduce reimbursement in the coming months as operating margins and capital equipment investments have already been greatly reduced,” he said.

Hethcock is the health care, law, education and nonprofits reporter for the Dallas Business Journal. The blog can be found here.