It may pay to shop around for health care. New legislation requiring transparency in health insurance coverage allows price comparisons between hospitals, across hospital systems, and with different insurers. In a new issue brief, Vivian Ho and co-author Evelyn Li compare quality and analyze pricing data from Houston area hospitals.
How can “Food is Medicine” programs address the critical link between access to healthy food and optimal health? In a new brief, our experts outline how the Texas Consortium for the Non-Medical Drivers of Health is tackling this question.
Shreela V. Sharma, Naomi Tice, Rebecca Mak, Jacquie Klotz, Elena M. MarksNovember 27, 2023
In a review of 10 years of data, fellows Shao-Chee Sim and Elena Marks show how the Affordable Care Act’s marketplace has drastically reduced the number of uninsured Texans and urge policymakers to find ways to maximize its impact so that affordable health coverage is accessible to all.
This brief reviews federal and Texas specific policies and regulation to support the integration of non-medical services into health care payment systems.
Elena M. Marks, Jacquie Klotz, Rebecca MakJune 8, 2023
A comparison of the prices at three major Houston hospitals — Houston Methodist, St. Luke’s Health and Memorial Hermann — associated with Blue Cross Blue Shield and UnitedHealthcare PPO health plans finds wide-ranging costs for services.
This brief outlines how the Small Business Administration's long-standing 7(a) loan program can build upon the lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic to strengthen its operations and impact.
The authors review the impact of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a government initiative that allowed small businesses to apply for low-interest loans during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the PPP helped cover employment-related expenses and mitigated unemployment for some businesses, it remained inaccessible to others, they conclude.
Rising health care costs and generational attitudes toward convenience and the ability to personalize life choices are driving a trend toward greater individual responsibility over the use of health care services.
A study comparing the community benefit expenditures of two sets of Houston hospitals leads the authors to propose strategies that can better justify the tax exemptions the institutions enjoy.
Alex Alexander, Marah Short, Vivian HoFebruary 8, 2018
Almost two-thirds of Texans ages 18 to 64 stayed insured with health care coverage during the past 12 months, according to a new report by Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and the Episcopal Health Foundation.
Shao-Chee Sim, Elena M. Marks, Vivian HoOctober 31, 2016