Without health insurance, people often don’t receive the medical treatment they need until their illness becomes severe — and they’re forced to go to the emergency department. Untreated diabetes leads to kidney failure and blindness. High blood pressure causes a stroke, aortic dissection and heart failure. Nagging symptoms aren’t evaluated until the cancer that caused them has already spread.
But here in Hillsborough County, we are fortunate that 35 years ago, a bipartisan coalition of political leaders, business groups, health care providers and educators worked together to design the Hillsborough County Health Care Plan. Today, more than 22,000 residents from every corner of Hillsborough County, from Plant City in the east to Ruskin in the south and Carrollwood in the north, are enrolled in the plan, which is funded by a countywide half-cent sales tax.
While the plan helps these residents directly, it also helps reduce health care costs for the entire county, funds local jobs and brings in millions in federal matching funds. The tax also funds money for emergency medical services, care for county prisoners and provides the revenue for other mandated county costs.
Last year, an independent economic analysis showed that the plan generates $1.53 in community benefit for every $1 of tax funding, a total of more than $291 million in benefits. It also supports at least 500 jobs in health care. Those are not abstract figures; they reflect real dollars, real jobs and a stronger local economy.
There are well-intended suggestions that the plan should be scrapped. But the Hillsborough County Health Care Plan is worth protecting. It is a practical investment in prevention, workforce stability and community prosperity. It is a smart, locally designed solution for people who are uninsured, need a bridge to health care and do not have private insurance, Medicare or Medicaid.
To read the rest of the Tampa Bay Times Viewpoint column, click here.