Ascension Seton Key Facts

About the MAP Program

The Medical Access Program (MAP) is a health coverage program for uninsured Travis County residents. MAP services are part of the Travis County “safety net” system to help ensure disadvantaged populations receive vital healthcare regardless of insurance status and ability to pay.

For the past 20 years, Ascension Seton has effectively and efficiently served as a healthcare provider for MAP program participants through its agreements with Central Health. Under those agreements, Central Health contracts with Ascension Seton to provide healthcare services directly to qualifying patients.

Travis County Taxpayer Benefits of Collaboration

Our collaboration with Central Health gives Travis County taxpayers the best of both worlds in terms of high-quality healthcare and cost. All other large healthcare districts across Texas require significantly higher taxes to support similar programs because they require operation of their own public hospitals and systems. Our collaboration helps bring efficiencies to Central Health operations and avoids duplication of many services by leveraging Ascension Seton’s existing facilities and clinicians.

Travis County residents pay the lowest tax rate among Texas’ six largest hospital districts.
Taxpayers save about 12 cents per $100 valuation in taxes for 2022.

Central Health has highlighted the taxpayer savings and operational efficiencies of our collaboration in its own materials:

“Through the partnership with Seton Healthcare Family, which operates the public hospital, Central Health is able to save residents millions of dollars in taxes every year.”
“Travis County residents pay the lowest tax rate among Texas’ six largest hospital districts.”

Central Health’s $400M+ in Reserves

Travis County residents pay taxes each year to fund the delivery of healthcare services to the most vulnerable Travis County residents. Today, Central Health has more than $400 million in reserves, yet refuses to deploy those funds to support expansion of the MAP program to additional members and services. Especially given their strong financial reserves, Central Health needs to appropriately fund the healthcare services for which those tax dollars are intended.

However, Central Health has:

Failed to spend more than $100 million in funds that had been budgeted to pay providers for expansion of hospital services for the poor and vulnerable;
Expanded its reserves ten times over in the past five years, from $39 million to more than $400 million; and
Consistently asked for a tax increase each year.

While we have been negotiating in good faith for several years to find a resolution to Central Health’s breach of the terms of our agreements, it is clear that Central Health has always intended to proceed to litigation as an excuse to spend the $400 million it has amassed from taxpayer-funds in an attempt to acquire Dell Seton Medical Center.

Central Health should focus on its mission and not empire-building. The stakes and cost to the patients and taxpayers of Travis County are too high for Central Health’s experiment.

Need for Sustainable Funding

Ascension Seton is committed to continuing to do our part to effectively provide services to more MAP patients. We are confident that the legal process will result in a solution that provides adequate funding for the MAP program moving forward.

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