Tax rate already at 27 cents per $100
Tue, 2016-10-25 22:26
News Staff
Starr County’s Hospital District
By G. Romero Wendorf
Perhaps the biggest public opponent of the creation of a new Hidalgo County Healthcare District (Proposition 1) is Mission Mayor “Beto” Salinas. In a county chock full of politicians who love to talk, Salinas is only one of three elected officials to publicly oppose it. The other two being Weslaco Mayor David Suarez and Hidalgo County Precinct 2 County Commissioner “Eddie” Cantu.
One of Salinas’s staunches arguments against the creation of a new Healthcare District and the new taxes it will add to the county’s tax bill is that it will serve as a magnet of sorts, drawing more poor people from directly across the Mexican border to come here for medical care. High on the list would be the delivery of newborn babies, he says.
Currently, if a poor woman from Mexico arrives at the front door of a local hospital, the facility has no choice but to provide her with medical care, including the delivery of her newborn, and care for both mother and child post-delivery, free of charge.
If it’s a simple, problem-free delivery, the figure may hover in the neighborhood of 10 grand. If it’s a complicated delivery -- either pre-, post-, or both -- that number can easily skyrocket into the tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Once born, the child is automatically a U.S. citizen entitled to federal welfare benefits.
Today, hospitals in Hidalgo