Published by Kaiser Health News: News outlets report on analyses in California, Georgia, Florida, Texas and Wyoming. READ MORE

Published by the Dallas News: A new study says accepting big federal money to expand the Medicaid program for the poor would do much for what ails Texas’ health care system, such as providing relief for local taxpayers who support hospital districts such as the one in Dallas County. READ MORE

Published by The Houston Chronicle at Chron.com: Expanding Medicaid could make available $900 million in state general revenue funds that otherwise would be slated for health care as lawmakers work to pay for state priorities, according to a report released Tuesday. READ MORE

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92 women competitively selected to explore “The Future of Texas is Now: From Local to Global”

Mrs. Dianne R. Dorsett of Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc. has been selected to join an elite network of more than 5,000 women as a member of the Leadership Texas Class of 2013.

“Mrs. Dorsett is one of 92 outstanding women leaders competitively selected from across the state to participate in the longest-running women’s leadership development program in the US. Throughout the year-long program, she will have the opportunity to broaden her perspective on our state by exploring four Texas cities and receiving cutting-edge information from renowned experts, government officials and other leaders to positively inform her work and community for years to come,” said Candace O’Keefe-Mathis, CEO of Women’s Resources. Leadership Texas, now in its 31st consecutive year, is the flagship program of the Texas-based foundation headquartered in Dallas.

Launched in 1983 as the first statewide program for women’s leadership development, Leadership Texas is patterned after, though not affiliated with, the co-educational civic programs that have found success in a number of cities throughout the state and nation. “Our founders decided to create Leadership Texas to help women become better, more informed leaders in our state’s communities, organizations and corporations,” O’Keefe-Mathis added.

The theme for the 2013 program year is ‘The Future of Texas is Now: From Local to Global’ “Participants will visit Dallas, Bryan/College Station, Galveston and Austin where each city’s opportunities and challenges will help to illuminate the participants’ knowledge of our rapidly evolving state across three common themes– the economy, education and the environment,” O’Keefe-Mathis said.

“We consider it a privilege to offer these influential women leaders from a broad diversity of professional and personal backgrounds some new perspectives, opinions and validation on some of the issues, people and places they might not otherwise encounter outside of the program. We recognize that it is necessary for today’s successful leaders to understand the cultural, social and economic shift before us and the programming of Leadership Texas provides opportunities and access to help the women impact the future of our evolving state.”

Through the generous contributions of the Leadership Texas Program Partners, the program continues to provide the most up-to-date information on leadership and issues affecting Texas. Corporate Program Partners providing major support for Leadership Texas 2013 include Southwest Airlines, Blue Cross Blue Shield and Texas Instruments.

“Program Partners provide more than financial support for the program; their women leaders also participate in Leadership Texas to build connections for the benefit of the entire state,” O’Keefe-Mathis said.

Women’s Resources

Leadership Texas is a program of Women’s Resources (WR). Established in Austin, Texas, in 1974, Women’s Resources seeks to advance the power of leadership and legacy through programs that connect, inspire, empower and honor women. To extend Women’s Resources’ message of strength and build bridges to and opportunities for women, WR founded Leadership America in 1988 and helped in the creation of complementary women’s programs in California, Illinois, Missouri and North Carolina, among others. WR also established the nation’s first comprehensive women’s history museum, The Women’s Museum: An Institute for the Future, which opened in Dallas, Texas, in association with the Smithsonian Institution in 2000. Since 1996, WR has been offering a series of national retreats for emerging women leaders called Power Pipeline. In 2009, WR launched new globally focused programming under its newly acquired banner, Leadership International, the Sandy Tyler Regional Series and Leadership Short Courses for the 21st Century.

Published by The Texas Tribune: Gov. Rick Perry says Texas won’t expand Medicaid, but that hasn’t stopped health care advocates and some lawmakers from continuing to argue that expanding coverage to low-income adults would save the state money. READ MORE

Report commissioned by Methodist Healthcare Ministries shows why expansion is smart, affordable and fair.
 
San Antonio, Texas – The debate brewing in Austin whether the state of Texas will expand its Medicaid program, a key component of the Affordable Care Act, has reached a fever-pitch as a new report commissioned by Methodist Healthcare Ministries (MHM) of South Texas, Inc. and authored by the former Texas Deputy Comptroller, Billy Hamilton laid out in no uncertain terms why expanding the program to low-income adults is smart, affordable and fair.
 
In the report titled, “Expanding Medicaid in Texas: Smart, Affordable and Fair” Hamilton provides the most comprehensive analysis to date of the costs and benefits to local tax authorities (including counties, cities and hospital districts) and state government if the legislature chooses to extend Medicaid benefits to low-income adults under the Affordable Care Act. The report includes county-level data and tables detailing regional breakouts of caseloads, spending and fiscal impacts for each of the state’s 20 Regional Health Partnerships—multi-county regions coordinating healthcare spending and delivery under Texas’ new federal Medicaid Transformation Waiver.
 
Using data from the 2012, MHM-commissioned research by Dr. Michael E. Cline and Dr. Steve Murdock, “Estimates of the Impact of the Affordable Care Act on Counties in Texas,” and the same policy implementation scenarios, Hamilton concludes that by bringing low-income adults into the Medicaid program, the state can infuse new, much-needed funding into Texas’ healthcare delivery system. For example, under a moderate enrollment scenario, Texas could experience a $1.8 billion increase in taxes from new federal Medicaid funds from fiscal years 2014 to 2017.
 
According to MHM President & CEO, Kevin C. Moriarty, while the estimated financial impact from the expansion would provide a boon to local communities, the central issue is the access to care that families, who would otherwise go without, would become a reality. “Our primary concern in these matters is always creating access to care for the least served and most vulnerable in our communities,” explains Moriarty. “As a nonpartisan, faith-based organization, the tenets of our faith require us to look at this from a non-political perspective. When you strip away the rhetoric, and view this as a moral decision, the choice should become crystal clear,” continues Moriarty. “But, one has only to read the data in this report to also see that expanding Medicaid to low-income adults is also smart from a job-creation and revenue standpoint; affordable, given the resources local governments and healthcare systems are already spending on unfunded patients and what would be needed for the annual state match that is necessary for the expansion; and fair, given the tax relief this would provide to citizens whose dollars are already paying for hospital district taxes,” says Moriarty.
 
MHM owns and operates clinics in San Antonio, as well as offers behavioral health and counseling, health education, and family wellness programs. It also provides grants to agencies that offer healthcare services and program. This year the organization plans to spend $78.3 million to sustain the programs and services it offers, and to continue providing funding to nearly 75 agencies across South Texas that also offer services to the uninsured and underserved in their local communities. The organization anticipates nearly 800,000 individuals will be served from their efforts. “MHM is the largest private funding source for healthcare services in South Texas, and even with our resources and dedication to our mission, we are unable to meet the need that exists for healthcare services, particularly in rural areas where access is limited to none. We want to be a part of a solution, to do what our faith asks us to do, but we can’t do it alone,” states Moriarty. “There is a tremendous opportunity before our legislature to come up with a solution to a problem that has real, life-and-death consequences for people—a problem for which the solution has so many additional benefits beyond the relief it will give to so many uninsured individuals. I believe it would be immoral for our state not to take action on something that we can, and should do for our citizens.”
 
At present, there are 17 states and the District of Columbia that plan to expand their Medicaid program to low-income adults—including Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico.
 
“I would like to think that the leadership in our great state can put aside political ideology to do what is right by the people they are elected to serve. It boggles the mind, that our Governor and others who are in the unique position to positively influence so many lives—potentially up to 4 million people —
would reject an opportunity to do what I am sure their own faiths—no matter the denomination—would call upon them to do,” laments Moriarty.
 
The full report prepared by Billy Hamilton Consulting for Methodist Healthcare Ministries and Texas Impact can be downloaded  by visiting mhmbridgeofblessings.org. The “Estimates of the Impact of the Affordable Care Act on Counties in Texas” report prepared by Dr. Michael E. Cline and Dr. Steve Murdock are also available on the MHM website.
 
About Methodist Healthcare Ministries (MHM) of South Texas, Inc.

Methodist Healthcare Ministries (MHM) is a private, faith-based, not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing medical and health-related human services to low-income families and the uninsured in South Texas. The mission of the organization is “Serving Humanity to Honor God,” by improving the physical, mental and spiritual health of those least served in the Southwest Texas Conference area of The United Methodist Church. To learn more about MHM, please visit mhmbridgeofblessings.org.
 

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Published by the Dallas Observer Blogs: In July, Governor Rick Perry sent a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius explaining why the state of Texas would not be taking part in the federal government’s plans to expand Medicaid. READ MORE

by Becca Aaronson

Expanding Medicaid is a “smart, affordable and fair” decision for Texas, according to a report issued by Billy Hamilton, a nonpartisan consultant commissioned by Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas and Texas Impact, a statewide interfaith network.

“If politics are set aside, the right decision is obvious,” wrote Hamilton, a former deputy comptroller of public accounts who was once the state’s chief revenue estimator. He argued that for an investment of $15 billion, Texas could draw down $100 billion in federal funds and expand health care coverage to 2 million low-income Texans over 10 years.

One of the most important decisions facing Texas lawmakers in the 83rd legislative session is whether to expand Medicaid to low-income adults, as directed by the federal Affordable Care Act. Despite proclamations from Texas’ Republican leadership — namely Gov. Rick Perry and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst — that Texas will not expand Medicaid, local government officials and health care providers across the state are pushing lawmakers to realize the benefits of it.

Hamilton’s report, the most thorough fiscal analysis yet on the impact of the Medicaid expansion on Texas, argues that state spending on the expanded Medicaid program would be offset by dramatic savings and that thousands of jobs would be created to boost the economy. Hamilton also says Texas’ uninsured rate — the highest in the nation — would drop by a quarter. He argues the expansion could save the lives of 5,700 adults and 2,900 children annually.

Hamilton, who was recently chosen to consult the embattled Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas on its fiscal policies, said failing to expand Medicaid “will place low-income individuals, local cities and counties and the entire state health care system at a significant disadvantage going forward.”

In contrast to arguments that the Medicaid expansion would cost Texas too much money, Hamilton finds state spending on the Medicaid expansion could be met “many times over” with existing funds that the state, local jurisdictions and hospitals already spend on unreimbursed charity care for low-income adults. An estimated $1.8 billion in new state revenue generated by the expansion could offset the state’s match for the Medicaid expansion from 2014 to 2017, Hamilton says, adding that an estimated 231,000 jobs, $2.5 billion in local revenue and $67.9 billion in total economic output could be generated by 2016.

Opponents of the Medicaid expansion argue the “one-size-fits-all” federal program fails to meet the state’s needs and that there is no guarantee the federal government will continue funding the program at high levels, leading to uncertainty over the burden to future state budgets.

Perry has compared Medicaid to the Titanic, arguing that the state shouldn’t add more people to a sinking ship. Rather than expand a broken system, opponents of the expansion argue Texas should apply for a block grant from the federal government to create a program unique to Texas.

Hamilton’s report counters these claims, arguing that Texas could build in “an automatic ‘trigger,’ such as Arizona is doing, to reduce Medicaid-optional populations and services should Congress reduce the match rate in the future.” The report also argues that lawmakers in favor of a Medicaid block grant should support the expansion, as the federal government bases block grants on historical funding levels, “so maximizing federal funding now would better position Texas in the event of any future conversion to block grants.”

Check out these Tribune interactives to compare state Medicaid expansions, weigh the effects of expansion on Medicaid caseloads and spending, and visualize the impact the expansion could have on Texas’ uninsured.
 

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at http://www.texastribune.org/2013/01/28/report-politics-aside-expanding-medicaid-smart-cho/.

Published by the Texas Observer: The United States Supreme Court’s upholding of the Affordable Care Act and issues surrounding Medicaid expansion. READ MORE

Methodist Healthcare Ministries partners with Dental School to serve community

January 2013
by Rosanne Fohn
Mission Magazine, UT Health Science Center

Marissa Lopez wanted to have beautiful teeth, so she and her mother began visiting the Ricardo Salinas Dental Clinic. “I learned to brush my teeth two times a day — in the night and in the morning — to floss and rinse my mouth with mouthwash. And now I have pretty teeth,” the smiling youngster said.

The Dental School’s involvement with the Salinas Dental Clinic began in 2003 as a partnership with Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas Inc. (MHM) and the city of San Antonio, which owns the Salinas Clinic. There, working under faculty supervision, dental students and pediatric dentistry residents provide dental services to children from all areas of San Antonio. “The need for oral health care is critical,” said Kevin Donly, D.D.S., M.S., professor and chair of developmental dentistry.

The clinic is a centerpiece of the Dental School’s outreach education program. It gives students and residents the opportunity to provide comprehensive care, and to learn about the needs of underserved communities and different ways to deliver care. “In a typical year, we provide about five or six procedures per patient during 5,000 patient visits,” Dr. Donly said. As a sustaining partner, MHM has contributed nearly $1.3 million to the clinic since 2002.

This clinic is just one of several long-term partnerships between the Dental School
and MHM:

• In 2002, MHM and the Dental School began partnering on a school-based prevention program for second graders in the Edgewood Independent School District. MHM’s contributions for the Give Kids a Smile Program includes equipment and supplies valued at nearly $650,000.
• Since 2005, MHM has supported the Dental School’s clinical education programs in Laredo with grants for planning, equipment and program support totaling nearly $1 million.
• MHM also has supported pediatric dental services that students and residents provided at the Frank Bryant Clinic on the Eastside since 2005. Funding through 2012 exceeds $1 million.
• In 2012, MHM began funding a Dental School rotation through San Antonio Christian Dental at Haven for Hope. Funding of $214,088 in 2012 will support 3,000 dental visits.

Kevin C. Moriarty, MHM president and CEO, said, “We firmly believe in the partnership we’ve created with the UT Health Science Center Dental School. We have succeeded because we share the same mission of caring for the least-served in San Antonio and South Texas.”

In all, MHM has provided more than $2.45 million to the Dental School’s outreach education programs in pediatric dentistry, prosthodontics, general dentistry, dental public health and prevention.

Beginning in 1998, MHM also was the driving force in educating the community about the value of fluoride in preventing cavities. As a result, voters approved adding fluoride to the city’s water supply.

In addition to the generous support provided to the Dental School, MHM has been a longtime champion of a multitude of programs throughout the UT Health Science Center including programs in the School of Medicine and School of Nursing.

Bill Dodge, D.D.S., dean ad interim of the Dental School, added, “It would not be an exaggeration to say that together, we have touched the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, not only through direct patient care, but through all the health care professionals who have received top-notch training from programs and clinics supported by Methodist Healthcare Ministries.”

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By Sarah Acosta
Staff Writer
The Smithville Times

In August, Smithville was presented with their first “Wesley Nurse” – Sharlene Scheler, who says she is fully committed to the health and well-being of this community.

Scheler moved to Smithville to retire with her husband Nelson last June, but when presented with the opportunity by Methodist Health Care Ministries to be Smithville’s first ever Wesley Nurse, she felt a calling.

“When I was first presented with the opportunity to be a Wesley Nurse, I had no idea what it was, but after a lot of research and much deliberation, I knew it was the right path for me,” Scheler said. “I feel blessed every day that I am able to offer this care to those in need.”

The Wesley Nurse Health Ministries program is a faith-based, holistic program committed to serving the community through the promotion of good health and education.

As a returning member of Smithville First United Methodist Church, she was thrilled to not only be a part of the ministry again, but also help others in the process.

Originally from San Antonio, she moved to Smithville 35 years ago when her husband was offered a position to manage Marrs-Jones Funeral Home.
She began working for the Smithville Clinic with Dr. James Thomas, while also commuting to Austin to attend nursing school.

As a mother of two children with aging parents herself, she felt the need to move closer to her family back in San Antonio.

Scheler continued to practice nursing there while also obtaining her second nursing degree, with a focus on infection prevention, from the University of Texas in 1991.

As a Wesley Nurse, Scheler provides free blood sugar and blood pressure screenings, along with diabetes and nutrition programs. She also focuses on cardiac care, medication safety and home safety.

“I am so excited to offer these services to those who really need it,” she said.

Scheler can be found at First United Methodist Church on Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

She provides screening services at Smithville Food Pantry, Meals on Wheels at the rec center and two days a week at Hart’s Chapel.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, she also provides exercise classes at the education building at her church.

In the future, she will also offer blood pressure screenings at Smithville’s Brookshire Brothers.

If you are interested in her services, contact Scheler at 512-237-2632.

“My main goal is to help people help themselves,” she said.

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Wesley Nurse to Offer 15-Week Walking Program in Blanco

Blanco, Texas — Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc. (MHM) recently welcomed Blanco among the communities in South Texas where it offers its signature outreach program – the Wesley Nurse Health Ministries™ (WNHM). WNHM is a holistic health and wellness program committed to serving the least served through education, health promotion and collaboration with the individual and community in achieving improved wellness through self-empowerment. It is currently MHM’s largest outreach program with 80 authorized church sites throughout South Texas.

Kimberley Timpanelli, RN began her tenure as Wesley Nurse at the Blanco United Methodist Church in April, however she is a seasoned healthcare professional. Timpanelli obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from the Florida Hospital College of Health Sciences, worked as an Oncology professional for over seven years and has nearly 18 years of experience in the nursing field.

As a new Wesley Nurse site, Timpanelli conducted a Health Needs Assessment of Blanco as a means to design programming and services to fulfill the expressed needs of the community. Concluding this study, Timpanelli found Blanco residents expressed a strong interest in a physical activity program, along with opportunities for spiritual growth.

As a result, Timpanelli introduced a 15-week walking program designed to encourage physical activity and spiritual reflection. The ‘Walk to Bethlehem’ program, adapted from the Episcopal Health Ministries model, also provides participants with a dedicated time to obtain health education and information. “The idea is to complete the total 7,208 miles from Blanco to Bethlehem in time for Christmas. That’s an average of 480 miles per week. My hope is to involve the entire Blanco community,” explains Timpanelli.

A different theme, suggested scripture for reflection, and a health related focus is identified for each week of the program. Additionally, each participant will receive a packet containing the weekly focus, mileage tracking cards, along with additional resources to assist them along their trek. Participants may choose to walk 30-45 minutes with the group that meet Monday through Friday at the Blanco United Methodist Church, or may walk independently. Community miles are tracked on a world map from Blanco, Texas to Bethlehem, Israel – a total of 7,208 miles. The Walk to Bethlehem program began on September, 9, 2012 and will continue into Christmas week.

Ms. Timpanelli’s office is located at the Blanco United Methodist Church (61 Pecan Street). For additional information about the Walk to Bethlehem program, contact Kimberley Timpanelli at (830) 330-4115 or ktimpanelli@mhm.org.