Suggestions for the Texas Legislature

The Texas Legislature will convene for its 81st Regular Session on January 13, 2009.  State papers have been publishing editorials on what the legislature should accomplish.  This one, from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, offers 10 suggestions relating to health care specifically.  Almost all of them are related to economic access.  Except this one:

Improve the Texas Advance Directives Act.

A 2007 compromise bill that would have improved the 1999 version for disputes over end-of-life care failed primarily because the session ran out of time. The measure built more time and a swift legal appeal into the process and dictated better communication between the care providers and patient families. It deserved passage.