El Independiente

              By Christian Richardson
Climbing medical insurance
prices have lefi many Arizonans
uninsured and Tucson hospitals
carrying the burden of unpaid bills.
"Health insurance is rising
because the cost of health care is
rising," said Regena Frieden,
spokeswoman for Blue Cross Blue
Shield of Arizona.
Two insurance companies post
prices for Arizona families that are
comparable to housing payments.
Cigna charges $520 per month
with no deductible for a family of
four with two parents ages 35-39
and. two children ages 10-12.
Under Blue Cross Blue Shield of
Arizona, a similar four-person
family will pay $434 per month,
with a $250 deductible.
During the last several years
there has been a lO percent
increase in prices for health care
insurance because people are
going to the doctor more often.
Frieden said.
One South Tucson resident said
she believes the prices for health
care insurance are high.
"It's very expensive," said Elsa
Moya, 49, who along with her
daughter is insured through her
husband's job.
Moya said her husband, a veter-an,
can go to the Veterans
Administration (VA) Hospital
when he is ill, but Moya and her
daughter don't have that option.
South Tucson resident Frank B.
Hillman Ill, 59, is also eligible for
treatment from the VA Hospital.
Hillman said he considers himself
CENSUS 2000
E1 qnc{evenc{íente
lucky to have that option.
"I'm better off than 90 percent
of the people in this area right
here," Hillman said.
According to the 2000 U.S.
Census Bureau statistics, 805,000
Arizona residents have no health
care coverage.
The State of Arizona aids the
uninsured through AHCCCS, or
Arizona Health Care Cost
Containment System. AHCCCS
provides health insurance to cover
emergency services for those who
fall under the federal poverty level
and for undocumented immigrants.
"We're mostly for lower-income
people who can't afford
insurance," said AHCCCS
Director of Public Informalion
Frank Lopez.
The federal poverty level was
raised under guidelines that took
effect Oct. I. A family of four can
have an annual income of up to
$17,650, or a monthly income of
$1,471, to be eligible for AHC-CCS;
a single individual with an
annual income of up to $8,590, or
a monthly income of $716, is eligi-ble.
AHCCCS has about 675,000
members, Lopez said. AHCCCS
has gained about 20,000 members
a month for the past four or five
months, which Lopez attributes to
the passage of Proposition 204 in
November 2000. Proposition 204
raised the federal poverty level,
allowing those who were previously
uninsured to become insured under a
higher income level.
AHCCCS offers U.S. citizens
coverage for visils to the doctor,
prescriptions and emergency care.
2Q
South Tucson 5,490
Tucson 486,669 405,371
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000
81,328
# Chanqe % Change
6.2 %
20.1 %
Fiesta for your feet
PhOtn by Robyn M:rze,
Girls perform traditional Mesican dances at the 11th Annaal
Tekakwitha Indian Festival in South Tucson on Oct. 28. The
festival was organized to raise money to build a new church
at the Kalerie Tekakwitha Parish, which provides Catholic
services to seven Indian villages.
Undocumented immigrants can
receive emergency care, but their
treatment will not be covered once
a doctor determines the case is no
longer an entergency, Lopez said.
Despite the AHCCCS program
that assists patients with no med-ical
coverage, local hospitals are
inundated with uninsured patients
in need of treatment.
During the 2000 fiscal year,
University Medical Center (UMC)
lost between $8 million und $10
million treating patients, with no
medical coverage, said Katie
Riley, spokeswoman for UMC.
This fall Tucson Medical
Center (TMC) and UMC, the only
level-one trauma centers in
Tucson, announced plans to close
their level-one trauma centers Dec.
31, citing a toss of revenue and
lack of tunds to continue opera-tion.
A hospital with level-one trau-ma
status has physicians and staff
on stand-by, ready to provide
instant care even when there areno
patients, TMC spokesman Michael
Letson said.
TMC has a policy of not turning
anyone away, Letson said. About
25 percent of the 100,000 patients
that come through TMC's emer-gency
room every year are unin-sured,
he said.
TMC's trauma center handles
between 1,000 and 1,200 trauma
patients a year. These patients suf-fer
from life-threatening injuries
varying from gunshot wounds tos
see HOSPITALS page 4
Ten-year makeover brightens face of South Tucson
enforcement concerns.
In the past decade, South Tucson has given
itself a complete makeover: streets plagued with
serious crime and dirt roads became thriving
business districts with paved sidewalks and
roadside shrubbery.
Physical improvements such as murals on
South 4th Avenue and wider sidewalks, were
partially made possible through state-shared
revenue. The allocated monies from Arizona's
government are based on population totals,
which are calculated by the U.S. Census Bureau.
According to Ruben Villa, South Tucson's
finance director, this census information is
"extremely important for distributing" funds and
creating the city budget.
As the U.S. Census Bureau releases the 2000
census data, a statistical image of the city devel-ops.
"The numbers are important to us because the
less people we have, the less money we get,"
see CENSUS page 6
Pacientes
sin seguro
médico
resultan
caros para
hospitales
Por Christian Richardson
Traducido por Luisa A. Garcia
Los crecientes precios de los
seguros médicos han dejado a
muchos Arizonenses sin seguro y
los hospitales de Tucson han
quedado con la carga de cuentas
pendientes.
"Las primas de los seguros de
salud aumentan porque el costo
de los servicios médicos aumen-ta",
dijo Regena Frieden, portavoz
de Blue Cross Blue Shield of
Arizona.
Dos compañías de seguros
fijan el precio paru las familias de
Arizona, el cual puede compara-rse
at pago mensual por vivienda.
Una familia de cuatro per-sonas,
los padres de 35 y 39 años
de edad y dos hijos de 10 y 12
años de edad pagarán $520 por
mes sin deducible de seguro si
obtienen su seguro por medio de
Cigna. Bajo Blue Cross Blue
Shield of Arizona una familia de
cuatro similar a la antes men-cionada
pagará $434 por mes con
un deducible de $250.
Durante los últimos años se ha
visto un aumento de un 10 por
ciento en lus primas por seguro
médico debido a que la gente
acude más frecuentemente al
doctor, dijo Frieden.
Una residente de South Tucson
dice que en su opinión, el precio
del seguro médico es muy eleva-do.
"Es demasiado caro", dijo Elsa
Moya, de 49 años de edad, quien
junto con su hija tiene seguro
médico atravéz del empleo de su
esposo.
Moya dice que su esposo, un
veterano, puede ir a Veterans
Administration Hospital (VA
Hospital) cuando él está enfermo,
pero Moya y su hija no tienen esa
opción.
Frank B. Hillman Ill, de 59
años de edad, quien es residente
de South Tucson, también puede
recibir atención médica en el VA
Hospital. Hillman dice que se
considera afortunado de tener esa
opción. "Estoy mucho mejor que
el 90 por ciento de la gente de esta
área", dijo.
Según las estadísticas del U.S.
Census Bureau del 2000, 805.000
residentes de Arizona no tienen
cobertura de seguro médico.
El estado de Arizona ayuda a
véase HOSPITALES p. 6
Pima County 843,746 666,880 176,886 26.5 %
Arizona 5,130,632 3,665,339 1,465,293 40 %
South Tucson's English-Spanish Newspaper
Free/gratis h tsp: //jour im. arizona, ed u / i ed y December/diciemhre 2001
By Melanie Winderlich Tucson streets - physical reminders to control
traffic and slow passers-by. Over the past two
Traffic moves slowly through South Tucson's years, the city has installed 142 speed bumps at
streets. Compact sedans and trucks creep over the request of residents.
each asphalt bulge. City officials have also responded to requests
Speed bumps extend throughout South to improve the physical landscape and address
Uninsured patiènts
costing hospitals
Pending bill would revive Tucson trauma centers