One solution to help cover Harris County's uninsured

06:15 PM CST on Friday, February 4, 2005

By Carolyn Campbell / 11 News

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Emergency room doctors will tell you, nearly one-third of the patients they treat are uninsured.

For an estimated 800,000 people in Harris County, many being immigrants, the ER is their place for primary care. And elected leaders say it's placing hospitals on a financial flatline with taxpayers covering the cost.

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Medical care for Harris County's uninsured is usually taken care of at the county clinic.

But to stop the bleeding, there's a plan under consideration to help heal Harris County's health care crisis.

Edmanual is fussy because he's recovering from an ear infection. Because his mother has no health insurance, the county clinic is his lifeline to staying well.

It's a safety net for the uninsured, but one that county officials say is being ripped apart.

But Harris County commissioner Sylvia Garcia has an idea that she thinks could help solve the problem. Garcia wants to add a fee to all international wire transfers in Texas. The money would be used exclusively for indigent health care.

"This is an idea that could address the fiscal crisis in healthcare for the entire state of Texas," says Garcia.

If Commissioner Garcia gets her way this fee for international wire transfers would be less than using an ATM. And it could mean an extra $6 million to $10 million for Harris County.

George Garcia's family-owned check cashing business does a lot of international wire transfers. He says the costs of sending wire transfers to other countries has dropped dramatically in the past 10 years.

"If you want to send $300 to Mexico today, it'll cost you $10 bucks. In past, it would have cost you $30," he says, but Garcia worries about additional fees.

"International is probably our No. 1 wire transfer source," says Garcia. "But if it doesn't stop there then there's only so much the company will do. They'll pass it on to the consumer of course and the consumer is not gonna be very happy about that."

For now, it's still just a plan, but the problem of providing healthcare to the uninsured is real.