Outside Cook Children’s Medical Center, 125 brightly colored cardboard figures of children stand in silent protest. Each one represents 1,000 young lives, a visual call to action against a proposal that health plan leaders say could jeopardize healthcare access for 1.8 million children and expectant mothers across Texas. In North Texas alone, that number is 125,000.
The display comes in response to a decision by Texas Health and Human Services that eliminates three non-profit children’s hospitals health insurance plans like the one offered by Cook Children’s. If the decision stands and the Texas Legislature does not intervene this session, families could be forced to switch to another health plan, mostly out-of-state, for-profit insurance companies, a change that health plan officials argue could raise costs and reduce access to timely, specialized care.
Dr. Taylor Louden, director of emergency medical services at Cook Children’s, says the impact would be severe.
“This is really going to negatively impact these kids, these families, in a way I don't think people fully realize,” Louden said.
For 25 years, Cook Children’s Health Plan has provided coverage to families enrolled in Medicaid who might not otherwise afford essential pediatric care. Louden expressed concern that for-profit alternatives could result in more denials, longer waiting times for procedures, and fewer options for seeing specialists.
“These are big insurers coming in to take over,” he explained. “So, it’s going to limit Texas families’ ability to get procedures. If they need a procedure, they may have to wait longer, it may be denied, or there could be tougher times getting access to our specialists.”
Cook Children’s, along with Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston and Driscoll Children’s Hospital in Corpus Christi, is currently challenging HHSC’s decision through legal channels. All three facilities operate nonprofit insurance plans that would be directly impacted.
“It’s really sad and disappointing that our government has chosen this approach,” Louden said. “It will probably increase their costs overall.”
The health plan hopes the visual display will prompt lawmakers in Austin to take action and implement changes to how the Medicaid procurement process operates. For now, they are urging community members to join the conversation and advocate for families having the choice to choose a health plan that best serves their childrens’ needs including long-standing health plans like Cook Children’s with proven quality and satisfaction records.
“I think we as a healthcare organization need to stand up and say, ‘this is not right,’” Louden said.
As the legal battle unfolds, thousands of families across Texas wait to learn if their children’s coverage, and access to care, will be preserved.
