County judge to propose indigent health care boost
Times staff report
In a meeting with local health care providers Friday, Webb County Judge Louis Bruni said he would propose increasing the Indigent Health Care Program budget from $2.1 million to $3.2 million, which will represent eight percent of the total county budget.
The raise would make the county eligible for assistance from the state, which would take care of 90 percent of any expenditure over the budget.
With the addition of $1 million from the Geo Group, which will build the proposed federal prison, and $390,000 in ad valorem taxes stemming from the change of ownership of Mercy Hospital to the Laredo Medical Center, as well as $2-3 million from the state, total funding could reach $6.5 million Bruni said in a news release.
During the 2002-2003 fiscal year the county overspent its Indigent Health Care budget by $700,000. In February the program was criticized for only spending 5 percent of its budget during the first four months of the fiscal year, prompting some commissioners to wonder whether qualified people were being turned away.
Bruni said he would make his proposal to the Commissioners Court
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