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HEALTH CARE
TEXAS
Saving on insurance
Feds hit finger prints
With low bid, county can now pay employees’premiums By JULIE DAFFERN THE ZAPATA TIMES
Not only will Zapata County’s new medical insurance provider save more than $500,000, but also employees will no longer be responsible for the premium. The lowest bid, which came from the Texas Association of Counties, was so low the county will be able to
cover the full premium for every employee. Commissioners Court approved the bid at a special meeting Wednesday. Previously, the county paid 85 percent and employees covered the rest. Now, if employees want to insure their families, the county will pay for the base premium, but the employee will be responsible for the difference.
“We needed to give our employees some kind of relief in these hard economic times,” said County Treasurer Romeo Salinas. “We all know how expenSALINAS sive everything is. We’re very appreciative of the Commissioners Court that they went
along with it. “It doesn’t seem like a big amount, but at least they’ll save a few more dollars in their paycheck.” The bid from the Texas Association of Counties was about $2.27 million. The county also received two other bids: AETNA, with a total
See INSURANCE | PAGE 9A
UNDER NEWMANAGEMENT
ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN, — Texas law requires food stamp applicants to be fingerprinted, but federal administrators say the state needs to speed up the process or risk losing funds. “One of the things I think Texas needs to do is streamline their operations,” said William Ludwig, a regional administrator for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service. “Finger imaging is very time-consuming.” Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst say fingerprinting is an important way to prevent people from collecting benefits under more than one name. The Austin American-Statesman reported Friday that the fingerprint program last year led to the state investigating only four applicants for fraud. The electronic fingerprinting program costs $3 million a year, a cost shared by the state and the federal government.
Slow prints
Photos by Ulysses S. Romero | Laredo Morning Times
ABOVE: Maria D. Guzman and Sandra Falcon took at information with new clinic director Dr. Edmundo Garza at the Zapata Medical Clinic on Friday. BELOW: Guadalupe Guerra, patient at the Zapata Medical Clinic, is examined by Garcia on Friday.
Zapata Medical Clinic is now run by local physician By JULIE DAFFERN THE ZAPATA TIMES
T
he transition to new management at the Zapata Medical Clinic has gone smoothly, Dr. Edmundo Garcia said Friday morning. Garcia took over management from the Zapata Medical Group, headed by Dr. Larry Sands, Thursday at midnight. “It’s been a lot more positive than anticipated, a lot more people than anticipated,” Garcia said. “It’s nice to see a lot of smiling faces.” Garcia said in his first 24-hour shift, he saw 25-30 patients. He had been told to expect five to 10. The clinic had been operating with just a few employees after most walked out in July when they were told they would not be
paid as scheduled and had their health benefits cut. Garcia said there are 12-14 people at the clinic now that have previous experience at the clinic. “Everybody that we’ve rehired were working here before,” he said. Commissioner Jose Emilio Vela said he visited the clinic at 9 a.m. the day Garcia and his staff took over management. “The whole attitude of the staff is totally different,” Vela said. “I had gone there before and it was a different environment. “I think Dr. Garcia is somebody people enjoyed having. He’s a local man and I think he really enjoyed helping the people. Garcia’s budget is $1.7 million for the year.
See CLINIC | PAGE 9A
Texas is failing to process more than a third of applications within the 30 days required by the federal government, according to the Austin AmericanStatesman. Some families wait months for food stamps. Ludwig in late September advised Texas officials that unless the state speeds up its application processing, its federal funds will be at risk. He told Health and Human Services Executive Commissioner Tom Suehs the state must submit a corrective action plan that should include solutions such as eliminating fingerprinting. Stephanie Goodman, a spokeswoman for the Health and Human Services Commission, said officials will consider eliminating fingerprinting but because that is done relatively quickly, “we really don’t think it helps this particular problem very much.” An aide to Gov. Rick Perry, Allison Castle, declined to say whether the governor supports the fingerprinting.
Funds saved Texas estimates that the deterrent effect of fingerprinting saves as much as $11 million a year. State Rep. Eddie Rodriguez, D-Austin, who tried to repeal the fingerprinting requirement in 2003, said the program is “obviously a boondoggle.”
See STATE | PAGE 9A
EDUCATION
County public library proud of 15 new computers
Eric Chapa and Andrea Guerra on two of the 15 new computers in the Zapata Public Library on Friday.
By DIANA R. FUENTES THE ZAPATA TIMES
Photo by Ulysses S. Romero | Laredo Morning Times
The Olga G. Figueroa Zapata County Public Library received 15 new computers this week, all available for use by the public on a first come, first served basis. “We got them through our wonderful county officials,” said Aida Garcia, library director. “They computers are brand-new, with a new version of Windows
and they’re very good.” Friday, there were several people in the library. An older man was doing research on one of the computers, and a little girl was working on another one of the new machines. Young Andrea Guerra said she enjoys going to the library to do her homework. The library has a special area set aside for students who take college classes, Garcia said. The
new computers will help them particularly, she explained. “Sometimes they have to take tests online, and the computers have to be in very good shape,” the library director said. Garcia said she’s particularly grateful to teachers and Librarian Belia G. Vela at Zapata North Elementary School, who have been sending parents to the public library
See COMPUTERS | PAGE 9A