Trump Extends Safety Net For Uninsured Texans
As one of his final administrative decisions before leaving office, the Trump administration along with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services agreed on Friday to extend the Texas health care safety net for uninsured residents for ten years.
The extension of the Federal program known as the 1115 waiver was approved on Friday (Jan 15th) and allows Texas’ safety-net hospitals to continue receiving federal reimbursements for treating the state’s poor residents. Advocates for Medicaid expansion say it fills gaps in care that are caused by Texas’ refusal to expand coverage.
A massive push is underway to vaccinate people in nursing homes and assisted living facilities against COVID-19.
About 90,000 Texans live in nursing homes. Another 70,000 are in assisted living facilities.
Vaccinations at nursing homes and assisted living facilities in the Rio Grande Valley could begin later this week or early next week, said Kevin Warren, the president of the Texas Health Care Association. This is a huge step forward in being able to expand visitation even further and get us back to the normal that, quite frankly, we ve missed for many, many months now, Warren said.
Watch the video for the full story.
North Texas hospitals running out of ICU beds for new COVID-19 patients
Those at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities in Texas started getting COVID-19 vaccines on Monday.
Many hospitals here in North Texas are almost out of room for new COVID-19 patients with more coming in by the day.
As of Monday, there were nearly 3,600 COVID-19 patients in the North Texas hospital region.
That is more than 23% of the available hospital beds in the 19 counties.
There are only 56 ICU beds available in the North Texas region, with just 18 remaining in Dallas County and six in Tarrant County.
New projections show hospitalizations in North Texas are likely to only get worse.
BCBS members lose in-network access to CHI hospitals By Donna McCollum and Christian Terry | December 17, 2020 at 5:30 PM CST - Updated December 17 at 8:20 PM
LUFKIN, Texas (KTRE) - Approximately 65,000 Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas members have lost in-network access to CHI Texas Division locations, including the CHI hospital in Lufkin.
Contract negotiations between the two parties broke down at last night’s deadline.
CHI St. Luke’s CEO, Doug Lawson, said today the two parties definitely need one another.
”Without a doubt. Without a doubt, but we can longer be in the position where we are significantly underpaid for the services that we are providing to the community. We cannot invest in the facilities that the communities need. We cannot invest in replacement technology and competing and paying staff a competitive salary has become increasingly difficult with the rates we have been receiving,” he said.
The hug booth was created at Heartis Clear Lake, home to about 150 senior residents, where rules only allow two loved ones to visit inside the facility. They build it exactly the way we envisioned it, Becky Hudson, the lifestyle director at the facility, said. They re great, safe and come with gloves.
The booths are set up outside in a courtyard and allow guests to stick their hands through large sanitized gloves and look their loved one in the eye through plexiglass.
This allows some contact, although not skin-to-skin, where families can hold hands while talking or even hug. Don t let COVID-19 be a deterrent for figuring out somehow, some way to engage the family member in the facility, said Kevin Warren, the CEO of the Texas Healthcare Association.