FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 7, 2007
CONTACT: Matt Mackowiak
Sen. Hutchison Backs Legislation to Fund Trauma Care Systems
Bill Would Award Grants to Offset Trauma Centers’ Uncompensated Costs
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) today cosponsored legislation that would establish grant programs to assist public trauma care centers, which have increasingly faced escalating operations costs associated with providing medical services to trauma patients.
Sen. Hutchison is an original cosponsor of the National Trauma Center Stabilization Act of 2007, a bipartistan bill introduced by Sens. Patty Murray (D-WA) and Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and cosponsored by Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA). The measure would make grant funding available to trauma centers to help allay costs associated with delivering care and to provide relief to centers at risk of closing.
“Trauma care centers, such as the ones operated out of Parkland Health Hospital System in Dallas and JPS Health Network in Fort Worth, provide critical care to patients who have sustained major injuries,” said Sen. Hutchison. “As costs associated with delivering this specialized care rise, we must make sure that the resources are available to keep trauma centers operational. I believe that this bill will help ease the financial burden facing these centers and allow them to continue to provide quality medical care.”
The new legislation would provide grants to qualifying public, non-profit trauma centers to offset the amount of charity, self-pay, and Medicaid care provided by the centers. It also makes funding available to help trauma centers advance their core missions, including patient stabilization and transfer, as well as trauma outreach and education. A portion of the authorized funds would also be set aside to provide emergency relief for trauma centers at risk of closing or in close proximity to another center that has shut down.
The legislation requests $100 million for 2009, and such sums as may be necessary for the years 2010 through 2014. Grantees may receive up to $2 million in assistance for a grant period of three years.
Parkland Health Hospital System in Dallas has a Level I trauma center, which provides the highest level of surgical care to trauma patients. In FY 2006, the Dallas trauma center administered $477 million in uncompensated care.
According to a report authored by the Task Force for Access to Health Care in Texas, trauma is the leading cause of death for Texans under the age of 45 and the third leading cause of death and disability for all Texans. The majority of trauma injuries occur in patients between the ages of 18 and 64. The report indicates that regionalized emergency and trauma care systems can increase survival of severely injured patients. (“Code Red: The Critical Condition of Health in Texas,” Task Force for Access to Health Care in Texas, 2006)
For more information on the Code Red report, visit: http://www.coderedtexas.org/
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