University of Texas medical leaders said Wednesday that federal health care reform legislation will present formidable challenges as increasing numbers of Medicaid patients and decreasing rates of reimbursement strain their schools' ability to teach new doctors and nurses and conduct research. The leaders of the six UT health institutions told the system board of regents that they will need to think creatively to respond to the newly covered population, projected to be as many as an additional 2 million people in Texas. UT institutions will shoulder the largest burden. "The good news is that more of the uninsured are going to have access," said Dr. John Mendelsohn, president of UT's M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. "The bad news is that under the current payment system, none of us are going to have our costs covered."
