Let’s wish Medicare and Medicaid a happy birthday

07/31/2015

By W. Stephen Love, President/CEO, DFW Hospital Council I would like to wish Medicare and Medicaid a happy birthday. On July 30, 2015, the programs turned 50 years old. I am old enough to remember the birth of these social healthcare programs, and it was not easy. In 1965, senior citizens over the age of 65 had little income and … Read More

Discussions related to death always difficult

07/09/2015

By W. Stephen Love, President/CEO, DFW Hospital Council On Wednesday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed changes to the 2016 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, including paying for the controversial end-of-life counseling. Six years ago, a proposal for Medicare to cover end-of-life counseling touched off a political storm leading to discussions of “death panels.” Yesterday, when Medicare finally … Read More

After the rains, watch for mosquitoes

06/02/2015

By W. Stephen Love, President/CEO, DFW Hospital Council Mark Twain once said, “Climate is what we expect, weather is what we get.” That certainly describes this stormy past month of May in Texas. We express our heartfelt sympathy to the victims and their families in the recent floods. We also know homes, property and personal items were destroyed, creating hardships … Read More

Texas “Underinsured” Numbers Growing

05/22/2015

By W. Stephen Love, President/CEO of the DFW Hospital Council We frequently discuss the uninsured population, but what about the “underinsured?” Perhaps you are asking, “Just what is the underinsured?” They are residents with healthcare coverage crippled by out-of-pocket health costs that are 10 percent or more of household income. That bar is lowered to 5 percent or more of … Read More

The Golden Hour for Rural Hospitals is Running Out

05/15/2015

Blog by W. Stephen Love, President/CEO, DFW Hospital Council I grew up in rural Virginia. My hometown had less than 1,000 residents and we were thankful for our rural hospital. Rural hospitals today are generally classified into four categories, including Critical Access Hospital (CAH), Sole Community Hospital (SCH), Medicare-Dependent Hospital (MDH) and Rural Referral Center (RRC). With fiscal cliffs and … Read More

Is it close enough?

02/20/2015

Blog by Steve Love We frequently read articles examining why the healthcare cost in some cities is higher than others. Healthcare delivery is complex no matter the locale and there are many factors. Some components are brutally simple, with one specific “public health focus” potentially saving millions of dollars in North Texas healthcare costs. Many of our cities (Irving, Richardson, … Read More