Texas Health System Proposes Sales Tax To Subsidize Uncompensated Care

University Health System officials in San Antonio, Texas, have called for a statewide quarter-cent sales tax to help fund uncompensated care provided in public and private hospital emergency rooms, the AP/Houston Chronicle reports. The sales tax would generate $600 million per year, which would go into a state Health Department tertiary care fund. That fund currently collects and distributes unclaimed lottery winnings to hospitals providing indigent care, the AP/Chronicle reports. Hospital districts and trauma centers around the state also have proposed implementing new fees on motor vehicle registrations, taxes on firearms and ammunition and additional fines for people convicted of driving while intoxicated; no bills have been filed yet. Dr. Ronald Stewart, trauma care director at University Hospital, said, "There needs to be some way to make certain the public safety need is met" (AP/Houston Chronicle, 12/31/02).