A Different Future: Part I – What becomes of public hospitals?

There is little doubt that, whatever the shape of the new American healthcare system, it will be different, perhaps radically different than the current one. Although the details of the final bill are far from certain, it is safe to assume that it will provide healthcare insurance coverage for many of the currently uninsured citizens and legal immigrants. If that is true, what happens to public hospitals? Or, to make bring the question closer to home, what becomes of the Harris County Hospital District? Patients who visit Houston’s two major county hospitals fall into three main categories. A minority of the patients has or ultimately qualifies for health insurance. Most of these individuals have Medicaid or at some point in their care are determined to be eligible for emergency Medicaid coverage. A few have Medicare, and some, mostly trauma patients brought to Ben Taub or LBJ by EMS services, are... continue reading...