MRT: Hospitals Suing Patients for Unpaid Bills; Fans Allowed at Sporting Events; Houston Transit Ridership Down; Chip Roy PPP Flexibility Bill Passes
Here's what you need to know in Texas today.
MustReadTexas.com – @MustReadTexas
BY: @MattMackowiak
FRIDAY – 05/29/20
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TOP NEWS
"Texas hospitals that received bailouts are suing poor patients for failing to pay medical bills,"The Houston Chronicle's Jenny Deam and John Tedesco -- "Back in 2017, Cheryl Billings was having a run of bad health, so her trips to Cedar Park Regional Medical Center near Austin have since blurred together. That’s why when she was later served with court papers saying the 108-bed Williamson County hospital was suing her, she had no idea why.
The 64-year-old is disabled and lives on about $700 monthly in Supplemental Security Income and other federal assistance. The $5,255 she was told she owed for a hospitalization seemed almost laughable. Almost.
“There’s no way I can pay,” she said she told the hospital’s lawyer when she went to court Feb. 27. Billings noticed he seemed to have a tall stack of cases against other patients that day. She said the lawyer replied: “Not my problem.”
Across Texas a growing number of poor, unemployed or unsuspecting patients are being sued for uncollected medical debt in a trend that some see as predatory. The hospitals suing are typically for-profit facilities, often operating in rural or small towns. Between January 2018 and February 2020, more than 1,000 lawsuits were filed by 28 hospitals in 62 Texas counties, according to a sweeping new analysis of hospital financial records and court data by national health care experts. Those lawsuits sought a total of about $17.8 million from their patients, researchers found.
The study, “Eroding the Public Trust,” was compiled by researchers from universities including Johns Hopkins, Georgetown University School of Medicine, Columbia University School of Public Health and University of Texas in Austin.
Leading the list in Texas hospital lawsuits are facilities affiliated with Community Health Systems, a large, multibillion-dollar, for-profit national health system. This spring, the Tennessee-based company received $245 million in CARES Act federal bailout money to offset losses caused by the pandemic, according to government records.
The health system operates 97 hospitals in 17 states, including 11 in Texas, according to the company’s website.
Yet, even after the pandemic had spread and hundreds of thousands of Texans became unemployed, CHS hospitals continued to sue patients, the study released Wednesday shows. Since March 13, when Gov. Greg Abbott declared a state of disaster, more than 350 new lawsuits were filed against patients, said Sarah Blakemore, a researcher at University of Texas and one of the study’s authors.
“The whole point of a hospital is to provide care and help people, but these hospitals are bringing people to the brink of financial ruin,” Blakemore said Tuesday.
Emails and calls to Community Health System headquarters in Tennessee and to the Cedar Park hospital were not returned Tuesday." Houston Chronicle
AUSTIN LANE: "SIU president makes choice of chancellor known to trustees," via AP-- "The head of Southern Illinois University says he wants former Texas Southern University president Austin Lane as the school’s next chancellor despite his contentious departure from the Texas school.
SIU President Dan Mahony says he has recommended Lane to the SIU Board of Trustees. If the board agrees, Lane will be the first African American chancellor in Southern Illinois’ 150-year history.
A special board meeting has been called for Friday for consideration of Lane’s hiring and contract terms.
Lane was among three finalists for the job, along with Susan Stapleton, special assistant to the provost at Western Michigan University. The third candidate, Lamar University President Kenneth Evans, withdrew his name in April.
Lane parted ways with Texas Southern earlier this year after getting into a public dispute with its Board of Regents over allegations of “fraudulent and dishonest” activities in the law school’s admissions process. He later reached a settlement agreement with the university, which found no wrongdoing.
Mahony, SIU Board President Phil Gilbert and School of Accountancy chairman Marc Morris, who headed the search committee, said details of Lane’s exit from Texas Southern, where he had worked since 2016, were well-known and thoroughly vetted." AP
STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT
"Game on: Texas to allow pro sports fans at outdoor events,"The Austin American-Statesman's Nicole Cobler -- "Professional sports fans will be allowed at outdoor events starting Friday, with some caveats to slow the spread of the coronavirus, according to a May 22 revised order by Gov. Greg Abbott.
But leagues must first submit a plan to the Texas Department of State Health Services, incorporating a minimum health protocol guide from the agency. Spectators are only allowed in outdoor venues operating at 25% capacity or less.
Fans still will not be allowed at indoor events under the change, and the loosened restrictions exclude Deaf Smith, El Paso, Moore, Potter and Randall counties.
In an executive order on May 18, Abbott initially said professional sports — golf, auto racing, softball, tennis, football and basketball — would be allowed to resume beginning May 31 without in-person spectators. Days later, he revised the order to allow fans at outdoor pro sports events." Austin American-Statesman
"Bus and rail service ridership in Houston could take years to recover, Metro officials predict,"The Houston Chronicle's Dug Begley -- "Metro officials predict it will be months, and possibly years, before bus and rail service ridership in Houston returns to pre-COVID-19 levels as transit use suffers from economic uncertainty, a lack of firm dates for schools to reopen and commuters choosing to drive.
“We have to understand some businesses are not going to reopen, period,” said Kurt Luhrsen, vice president of planning for Metropolitan Transit Authority.
Bus and rail use in the region, always dwarfed by automobile use, now faces not only lost riders in fewer workers and students , but also questions among some critics about whether it is safe to ride.
It is a marked change for Metro officials, who three months ago were worried less about keeping riders than kick-starting $7 billion worth of new bus and rail projects, approved by voters last November.
Now, transit officials are moving those plans ahead and preparing to open the region’s first bus rapid transit line in mid-August, unsure when demand for the services will return.
Metro’s finances also underwent significant change because of the coronavirus. Transit officials eliminated fares in mid-March to reduce contact between bus operators and riders, a roughly $6 million monthly loss for the agency.
The biggest hit to Metro’s coffers, however, is a decline in the region’s sales tax revenues. The transit agency is funded mostly from a 1 percent sales tax from within its coverage area, which includes most of Harris County along with Houston and 14 other cities. Metro’s internal finance analysts expect revenues from the sales tax to drop by $102 million, about 13 percent of what the agency had budgeted for fiscal 2020, which ends Sept. 30.
“We are making some assumptions now,” Metro CEO Tom Lambert cautioned board members last week, noting sales tax revenues take two months to assess, so the latest figures are from March. “The reality is, we will probably get a couple months, and won’t know the impact until June.”
In the interim, Metro’s share of the federal coronavirus rescue package will supplement its losses and appears, based on estimates, to maintain the current budget. Metro will receive $180 million of Federal Transit Administration funds, which officials said would cover all operations and fare revenue declines in the current budget.
The long-term outlook is less certain." Houston Chronicle
2020
"Texas will extend early voting period this fall, Gov. Greg Abbott says,"The Texas Tribune's Patrick Svitek -- "Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday he will extend the early voting period for an unspecified amount of time during the November election as concerns continue to persist around in-person voting during the coronavirus pandemic.
Abbott has already doubled the time period for the primary runoff election July 14, calling it necessary so that "election officials can implement appropriate social distancing and safe hygiene practices."
In a TV interview Thursday afternoon, Abbott was asked if he believes Texas voters will be able to cast their ballots safely not only this summer but also in the fall.
"We do, and for this reason, and that is ... Texas has always had early voting, and what I did for the July time period and what we will do again for the November time period is we will extend the early voting period," Abbott said in the interview with KCBD in Lubbock. "And what that does — it allows more people to go vote early in settings that are not highly congregated. As a result, you can go vote without having to worry about a whole bunch of people being around you that you could contract COVID-19 from. That makes voting a lot safer [of a] setting than it would otherwise be with the shortened early voting time period."" Texas Tribune
"As debate over mail-in ballots roars on, requests up in Harris, Bexar,"The Houston Chronicle's Taylor Goldenstein -- "As the legal battle roars on over whether to expand voting-by-mail in Texas, the number of requests for mail-in ballots is rising slowly in two of the state’s largest counties.
On Wednesday, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that lack of immunity to COVID-19 alone does not qualify a voter to vote by mail. But the justices put the onus on the voter to decide whether he or she meets the definition of having a disability based on “aspects of his health and his health history that are physical conditions.”
The ruling came as two cases launched by the Texas Democratic Party in state and federal court that seek to open up mail-in voting continue to wind through the courts. The matter, which is enveloped in a nationwide partisan debate, is poised to end up before the U.S. Supreme Court.
The legal status of mail-in voting for virus-related reasons has gone back and forth — earlier this month, one court gave the green light only to be overturned by another court less than 24 hours later. Nevertheless, a considerable number of voters have turned in early requests for mail ballots, a Hearst Newspapers analysis shows." Houston Chronicle
TEXANS IN DC
"House approves bill spearheaded by U.S. Rep. Chip Roy to ease restrictions on small-business loan program,"The Texas Tribune's Abby Livingston -- "The U.S. House overwhelmingly passed legislation Thursday to ease rules on small-business owners who are participating in a loan program meant to mitigate the economic complications of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new legislation was a bipartisan effort, spearheaded by two freshmen — including U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Austin. The goal is to give business owners and operates more flexibility in the rules small businesses must follow in order to have their loans forgiven. The bill now moves to the Senate, where Roy has said he expects it will pass.
"We want to make sure that money is being targeted and focused in ways that's best for those businesses in order to stay alive," Roy said in an interview last week as he was shepherding the bill through the chamber. "That's the concern, that businesses are unable to get through this and stay alive."
The legislation made significant changes to the Paycheck Protection Program, a fund aimed at keeping afloat small businesses devastated by the coronavirus pandemic. In this program, small-business owners secured loans that will ultimately be forgiven if they play by the law's rules." Texas Tribune
"Cornyn, Cruz at odds over further immigration restrictions,"The Houston Chronicle's Benjamin Wermund -- "U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz — two Texas Republicans — are at odds over how far the Trump administration should go as the White House weighs restricting guest worker visas amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Cornyn this week joined a group of senators writing to President Donald Trump, urging against additional restrictions, arguing that “guest workers are needed to boost American business, not take American jobs.” But Cruz earlier this month joined a group of conservative senators that is urging suspension of all new guest worker visas for 60 days and calling on the president to halt some categories for at least a year, or “until employment has returned to normal levels.”
The split comes as the Trump administration has severely restricted immigration during the pandemic, asserting that doing so will preserve U.S. jobs as millions of Americans file for unemployment. Trump last month signed an order halting employment-based visas and restricting immigration within families, though the order included exceptions for medical professionals and farmworkers. The White House reportedly now is considering broadening that order." Houston Chronicle
"Houston Rep. Dan Crenshaw's bestselling new book got boost from purchases by House GOP campaign arm,"The Dallas Morning News' Tom Benning -- "Houston Rep. Dan Crenshaw’s bestselling new book, Fortitude: American Resilience in the Era of Outrage, has been boosted by the National Republican Congressional Committee making a large bulk-order purchase.
The House GOP’s campaign arm recently spent nearly $400,000 to buy more than 25,000 copies of the freshman Republican’s tome.
The purchases, first reported by Politico, were then used in a fundraising appeal that allowed donors to the NRCC to obtain a signed copy of what Crenshaw described as his take on the “divisive mob politics that is coming to characterize America.”
About $1.5 million was raised through that campaign, an NRCC spokesman confirmed.
“Congressman Crenshaw is honored by the overwhelming response to his bestselling book, and pleased that the NRCC’s fundraising effort including copies of his book was so successful,” said Crenshaw spokesman Justin Discigil.
It’s unclear to what extent Crenshaw may have benefited personally from the bulk purchase.
He signed his book deal with Grand Central Publishing before he became a congressman, meaning that he was not subject to rules preventing lawmakers from receiving book advances. The retired Navy SEAL’s advance was $250,000, according to personal financial disclosures.
A Crenshaw aide wouldn’t answer if the lawmaker received royalties from the NRCC purchase.
But the aide said that the House Ethics Committee, now led by a Democratic lawmaker, signed off on Crenshaw’s book deal when he took office last year. The aide added that Crenshaw has “fully complied with election and ethics rules with his bestselling book.”
Restrictions do apply when a politician’s own campaign buys his or her books, experts said." Dallas Morning News
REMAINDERS
DALLAS COWBOYS: "McCarthy prepping for Cowboys job from old home of Green Bay"AP
TEXAS TECH BASKETBALL: "Hoya to B12: Ex-Georgetown G McClung signs with Texas Tech" AP
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