Houston Chronicle Front Page Story today

For those of you that have access to the Houston Chronicle, you may have read the feature story today. We are hopeful you can read the article. Once again, the leadership of MD Anderson is not willing to accept the responsibility to fix this dire situation for the taxpayers of Harris County who buy individual health insurance plans. This includes over 2300 patients about to lose their current care and thousands more that have been shut out of future care. It is this very attitude that wears people down and leaves them without hope. The blaming must stop and the President of UT and MD Anderson that are employed by the State of Texas to deliver services to all taxpayers must act like leaders, assume their responsibility and find a solution that does not discriminate against all individual insureds in Harris County. They are paid to solve problems, not blame insurance companies. They have spent millions of dollars on ad campaigns, a department that recruits and serves global patients and donor relations. They can figure this out and must publicly inform Houston how this will happen. This isn’t rocket science. The leaders of the hospital must call BCBSTX and the other major health insurers, sit down together and negotiate contracts immediately. Enough is enough. The hospital may not get the rate it wants, but as a State Hospital its leaders have the obligation to take the best they can get and ensure the doors of MD Anderson remain open to all residents of Harris County, not walk away from a contract and leave the entire individual insurance market shut out of care. Admiral McRaven and Dr. DePinho, imagine it is your life. It IS ours. Step up to the plate and show you really care about eradicating cancer for all. Please continue to share this petition with your organizations and relationships. Our voices and comments matter. We agree the Insurance Companies ALSO have discriminated against the individually insured. Now, we the citizens demand that MD Anderson use their political will, as they do often to force a solution. Thank you for caring and sharing.