A newsletter for Texas physicians from the Texas Medical Association Insurance Trust

February/March 2012

After surviving a kidnapping, a Texas physician helps medical students learn what’s important in life

On a calm Sunday morning in 2005, Dr. Steven Berk was held at gunpoint by a Texas prison parolee. The four-hour ordeal is documented in his new book, Anatomy of a Kidnapping: A Doctor’s Story. Read his story

A stay in a Texas hospital can cost $1,923* per day. How much does your insurance plan cover?

Most medical plans cover in-patient hospital expenses, but if you’re in the hospital for more than a day or two, co-insurance (the portion you pay) can add up. Talk to a TMAIT Advisor about your current medical-insurance policy to make sure your plan offers enough coverage for in-patient hospital expenses. You may want to get a plan with more comprehensive coverage, or it may be cheaper to keep the plan you have and add a supplemental hospital indemnity insurance policy, which offers a benefit that you can use to offset the costs of co-pays and co-insurance if you’re hospitalized.

*Kaiser Family Foundation, Texas: Hospital Adjusted Expenses per Inpatient Day, 2009, http://www.statehealthfacts.org/profileind.jsp?cmprgn=1&cat=5&rgn=45&ind=273&sub=68. Accessed 1/11/12.

News and Events

TMAIT holds board elections

At the October 21, 2011 annual meeting and election of the TMAIT Board of Trustees, Kevin P. Magee, MD, a maternal and fetal medicine physician from Dallas was elected Chair; Robert A. Light, MD, a urologist from Houston was elected Secretary; and Kimberly Carter, MD, an Austin physician specializing in obstetrics and gynecology was elected to a final three-year term.

In addition, Russell J. Juno III, MD was recently approved by the TMA Board of Trustees to serve in the TMAIT board position designated for a member of the association’s Young Physician Section. Dr. Juno practices general surgery in La Grange, Texas.