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MEDICAL YEAR
IN REVIEW

a 20% co-payment. The Medicare Physi-
cian Fee Schedule (MPFS) does not
deduct the co-payment amount. There-
fore, the actual payment by Medicare is
20% less than shown in the fee schedule.
This situation has existed for far too long
and has unfairly been a financial burden
to the physicians willing to take care of
this very vulnerable patient population.

An important component of access to
care is the education of patients. They must
be taught healthcare maintenance at pre-
entry levels, such as classes early in school,
social media, and other public programs.
This needs to be coupled with education at
all entry levels to the healthcare system
whether a family planning appointment, an
emergency room visit or participation in ap-
propriate postpartum prevention programs
for one year after birth.
• A consortium should be established to lishment of a centralized communication
The Border Conference allow collaboration on all the research system to assist with such situations.
The Border Health Conference had projects currently being undertaken so
over 125 participants learning about pro- they may be compiled and cross-refer- The health care issues along the border
grams on both sides of the border. Hi- enced so anyone can access them, with- are more numerous than can be enumer-
dalgo County has the program “Eating out cost. Perhaps this can be ated in such a short article. TMA President,
Smart Being Active”, administered by accomplished through the US Mexico Dr. David Fleeger and TMA Past President,
Eddie Olivares, Chief Administrative Of- Border Health Commission, establishing Dr. Doug Curran both pointed out: There
ficer, Hidalgo County Health and Human a permanent community for research. are answers; we just need to work together
Services. Another is the outreach “Tu • Continue to support the establishment energetically to find solutions to issues that
Salud Si Cuenta” (Your Heath Does Mat- of partnerships with community health are under our control, advocate for and im-
ter) from our Mexico counterparts. From organizations and workers, including plement them at the appropriate govern-
the City of El Paso Health Department “promotoras”. mental or societal levels.
Director, Roberto Resendes, we were told • Establish a mechanism for educating our I thank all who participated in the con-
first-hand how they dealt with the recent communities and employers about the ference to make it successful. I invite all to
shooting there along with the lessons need for healthcare promotion. The cur- come to the Border Health Caucus meet-
learned. Ideas for further improvements rent cost of lost productivity due to ings we have at TexMed and at the Fall and
in this area included: health issues is annually more than $3 bil- Winter Conferences. I especially invite all to
• Medical schools, public health depart- lion. It is an incentive for promotion of the 15th Annual Border Health Conference
ments, government and community ad- healthcare in the workplaces. in El Paso next Fall.
vocated health programs and private • Consider a mechanism for suspending
physicians must all cooperate in order to HIPAA regulations during a catastrophic Luis M. Benavides, MD is the Chair of the
better understand and participate in the situation such as the one that occurred Border Health Caucus.
solution of these issues. in El Paso, in combination with estab-

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