Companies that offer health coverage sought
May 6, 2007
State Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, said access to medical services needs to be a priority for the city, and this month he introduced a proposed a bill to create universal health care in the state.
Written by Gustavo Reveles Acosta , El Paso Times
If more El Pasoans are to have access to health coverage, elected officials and business leaders must work hard to attract companies that not only pay well but also provide their employees medical insurance, experts said. Nearly a third of El Pasoans don't have access to health insurance -- a rate that leads the state, according to the Texas Health Institute -- and business development officials are working to change that. "We are targeting the type of industry that, by and large, normally provide not only health care to its employees, but also other benefits like retirement programs and profit sharing," said Bob Cook, president of the El Paso Regional Economic Development Corp. Cook said companies such as Automatic Data Processing, which will create 1,000 new jobs in El Paso, is an example of the type of company he would like to see come into town. "They're not only providing great benefits to their employees -- including health coverage -- but they're also great contributors to community events," he said. Getting a job with health insurance is the first step, but being able to afford it could be troublesome for the thousands of El Pasoans living near or below the poverty line. The Texas Health Institute said earlier this year that people in this state pay on average about $1,550 more in insurance premiums people in the rest of the country. And the fact that 30 percent of El Pasoans are considered poor, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, could lead to a heavy reliance on publicly funded facilities such as Thomason Hospital and programs such as Medicaid. State Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, said access to medical services needs to be a priority for the city, and this month he introduced a proposed a bill to create universal health care in the state. "In Texas, El Paso is the ground zero of the uninsured," he said. "From D.C. to Austin, experts are now convinced that the only viable solution is universal health care where a single-payer system can lower administrative costs and put more money into a vibrant and competitive private care medicine." This article was published in Week 6 of the El Paso Times Poverty Series.
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