Central Health, Ascension Seton trade barbs

The lawsuits between Ascension Texas, formerly known as the Seton Healthcare Family, and Travis County’s Central Health continue with little prospect of progress in the near future.

Seton and Central Health have been at loggerheads since at least 2020, and each filed suit against the other in January. As in many lawsuits, it all boils down to money. Now, Seton has taken another step to try to force Central Health back to the negotiating table. If that fails, Central Health may try to wrest control of Dell Seton Medical Center at the University of Texas from Seton.

According to a spokesperson for Ascension Seton, Seton sent Central Health “a notice of governance and funding deadlock with respect to the Community Care Collaborative (CCC)” on Tuesday. The contract between the two provides for such an action, which could force the two sides back to the bargaining table.

Central Health and Seton formed the CCC to carry out the task of providing health care for the poor.

Seton describes the CCC as the entity responsible for coordinating “all available health care resources” and implementing an integrated delivery system. Specifically, Seton is charged with providing health care services for Medical Access Program (MAP) patients.

Central Health claims that Seton has breached its agreement by “capping, reducing and even eliminating services” for MAP patients. Specifically, Central Health claims that “Ascension’s own data shows that in FY22, it served 18 percent fewer MAP patients and scheduled 38 percent fewer patient visits than it had 10 years earlier – but still received the same payment that had been agreed in 2013.”

Obviously, Seton does not see it that way. According to Seton, as Travis County’s population has grown, the number of people seeking medical care through MAP has also grown and Central Health has not increased its payments.

Also, some members of the public have criticized Central Health for failing to spend enough money on health care for the poor. As a result, the Commissioners Court has ordered an audit of Central Health, which may shed some light on these questions.

Interim City Manager Jesús Garza was president and CEO of Seton in 2013 when the master agreement with Central Health was signed.

Photo by Larry D. Moore, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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