Grapevine resident Sandy Silverman moved from Cleveland to North Texas in 2001 to be near her grandchildren. Five years ago, the increasing costs surrounding her health care became more noticeable, she said.
Most recently, her $50 chronic kidney disease medication jumped to nearly $700.
“Now, what do I do?” Silverman, 83, said. “Do I suffer for the rest of my life?”
Health care costs are skyrocketing across Tarrant County and the nation. Local organizations, initiatives and individuals are working to address the rising costs.
Total national health expenditures increased from nearly $1.4 trillion in 2000 to almost $5.3 trillion in 2024, according to the Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker.
Those costs trickled down to patients. Over the span of 12 months from 2024 to 2025, three-fourths of uninsured adults skipped or delayed needed health care due to costs.
The Fort Worth Report will discuss solutions to soaring health care costs at its next Candid Conversation. Panelists include clinic leaders, hospital leaders, physicians and university medical directors, who will speak about how local efforts are trying to help.
Join us for our latest Candid Conversation
A panel will discuss soaring health care costs and how to solve them. The panelists are:
Dr. Jeff Beeson, executive medical director and assistant professor of medical education and health systems science at UNT Health Fort Worth
Aly Layman, executive director of Mercy Clinic
W. Stephen Love, president and CEO of Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council
Dr. Stuart Pickell, primary care physician and former president of Tarrant County Medical Society
When: Complimentary breakfast begins at 7:30 a.m. Feb. 18. The discussion begins at 8 a.m. Tickets are available by clicking here.
Where: Texas Wesleyan University’s Nick and Lou Martin University Center 2nd Floor.
From left to right: Dr. Jeffrey Beeson, Aly Layman, W. Stephen Love and Dr. Stuart Pickell will participate in Candid Conversation: Soaring Health Care Costs. (Image collage created by Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report/CatchLight Local/Report for America)
What are the solutions?
For Dr. Anatoli “Toli” Berezovsky, the solution was leaving the insurance-based medical system altogether.
The direct primary care physician started Mila Family Health clinic in November 2024 in reaction to his dissatisfaction with how insurance companies influenced the way doctors practice medicine. Through direct care, Berezovsky’s patients pay a flat monthly fee instead of using insurance.
Berezovsky recognizes the fault of costs doesn’t fall on the doctors participating in the health care system — he works part time at JPS Health Network. But he also notes the system only works by being a part of it.
“Everybody I know is frustrated by it, and that’s why everybody I know can’t sustain the work that they do,” Berezovsky said. “But by continuing to work there, yeah, we’re complicit.”
Karen Love, president and CEO of Cook Children’s Health Plan, also reckoned with the health care system instability.
“There comes a point where companies say, ‘I can’t afford to provide health insurance for my employees anymore.’ Or families decide, ‘I can’t afford the cost. I’ll just take my chances,’” Love said. “If we don’t shift the model to something where we’re actually paying for health, not health care, we are going to find ourselves in a world of hurt in 2030.”
For her, one of the solutions is promoting innovative initiatives that target core morbidities locally.
North Texas Maternal Health Accelerator, for example, seeks ways to reduce maternal morbidity by bringing together more than 130 local partners to provide care or resources to expecting mothers.
“There are companies, both at the philanthropic level as well as venture capital investment firms who are looking for models where they can pay for outcomes,” Love said. “Not pay for the heart catheterization, pay to keep you healthy so that you don’t have to have heart catheterization.”
Some also choose to impact the system at low costs in areas adjacent to health care. Annabel Luna-Smith, community liaison project manager at UNT Health, said working in the preventive health space can lower costs for individuals in the long run.
That is where the biggest change can happen locally, Luna-Smith noted.
“It’s easier and cheaper for us to prevent these chronic diseases than it is to manage them when they are diagnosed,” Luna-Smith said. “The goal is if we look at an individual in a holistic approach — what they eat, exercise, the quality of their sleep, their environment — we know we can have an impact on preventing these diseases.”
Ismael M. Belkoura is the health reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at ismael.belkoura@fortworthreport.org.
At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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