Travis County’s hospital district Central Health is reporting better days for its financially troubled non-profit Sendero Health Insurance.
Thanks in large part to the Affordable Care Act, Central Health and Sendero are able to take care of more people more efficiently. Sendero CEO Wes Dukalski puts a number on it. “It’s estimated that there’s usually about $250 million annually in direct federal subsidies that are coming in to the local healthcare system, which benefits not just those people but the healthcare system that all of us rely upon.”
Dukalski tells Travis County Commissioners between increased enrollment into Sendero and the Obamacare subsidies they are doing much better. “The important thing is…break even or better.” He says around 15 thousand new members have enrolled. “We estimated that even if we ended up with only 12,000 members and a relative risk score of half of what the actuaries projected, we still estimate that we would break even.”
Commissioners expect to get another update from Central Health in about two months.
