“This is ground zero in the health care disaster,’’ said Dr. Leonard Zwelling, an oncologist at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. “Houston is such a rich city, with some of the best medical care in the world… . And yet the people without insurance have a heck of a time getting into most of these facilities because they can’t pay.’’
And what is the price Texas pays for so many without insurance? A host of health problems, researchers have found. Overall health care quality for Texas is poorer than in every other state, especially when it comes to preventive, acute, and chronic care, as well as care for diabetes, heart, and respiratory diseases, according to the 2010 report of the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Texas ranks third to last in the country for the percentage of adults with a regular source of medical care, according to Commonwealth Fund data on state health system performance. It places 39th among the states in the percentage of adults over 50 who receive recommended screenings such as mammograms and colonoscopies. A fifth of its pregnant women receive no prenatal care in their first trimester.
And in a state where 16.8 percent of children are uninsured, more than all but one other state, only half of Texas children have a medical provider who knows them and coordinates their care. More than a third of them have not received recommended medical and preventive care within the year, and immunization rates are low as well. Texas also ranks last in the country in the percent of children who receive needed mental health care.
Doctors recount horror stories of uninsured patients who die of treatable diseases because families delay seeking medical help or must endure long waits for appointments with specialists.
