Harris County launches first of its kind health care plan

HOUSTON -- At Arturo's Restaurant in Uptown Park, the food is top shelf and so is the staff.

Carlos Green is a professional waiter.?He's been serving some of the finest clients at some of the finest eating establishments for 30 years. For most of that time, including now, he was uninsured.

"I'm just begging every day not to get sick," said Green.?"That's about it."

Green is among more than a million Harris County residents who are uninsured.?A recent Census Bureau report shows that Texas leads the nation when it comes to people lacking health care coverage.?Harris County and Houston lead the state.

Green is only one out of approximately 45 employees at Arturo's.?The restaurant's owner says he's been looking for ways to provide insurance to his employees since the 80s.

"It would cost us about $20,000 a month to insure all of our employees," said Bill Sadler, "We don't make that much profit, and it's typical of most restaurants."

Now, though, there's a new option on the menu.

"This is a new product," said Harris County Judge Ed Emmett. "It's something that's never been done before."

It's called the TexHealth Harris County 3-Share Plan.? Available to small businesses with 50 or fewer workers, it splits the cost of health insurance three ways between employer, employee and a public/private subsidy.

"Our average monthly premium is $240.00," said Karen Love, of the Harris County Health Care Alliance.? "We anticipate the employer will pay about half and the subsidy a third."

Employees who make more than $16.00 an hour are not eligible for the subsidy.?They'll have to split that cost with their employer.?

Even though the cost would still be greatly reduced, some small business owners question whether they could afford it.

The public/private subsidy fund totals about $4.5 million and includes both state and federal money.? The plan is expected to provide limited benefits to as many as 5000 people over the next couple of years.?

It far from solves the problem, but the people who devised the plan say it could be used as an example for reform on the federal level.

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