Morgan LaMantia attends New Horizon roundtable to talk health care

HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — There is growing concern about access to health care in the Valley – especially for those who are living in poverty.  

On Wednesday, this issue was discussed at a roundtable hosted by Brownsville Health Care Clinic, New Horizon.  

ValleyCentral spoke with a state senator about what she is planning to do to help those who may have struggles getting medical care.  

Valley residents we spoke with say many of their neighbors are without health care. 

“I believe there's a lot of people. They don't they have no coverage at all,” said Brownsville resident Javier Castaneda. When we asked if he had seen it with people he has known, he said, “Yes, they get sick and, I mean, they go to the hospital and they just treat them for whatever, and they just kick them out.” 

At that event in Brownsville at the New Horizon Health Center, Morgan LaMantia D-27 addressed what the senate is doing to help those who need insurance. 

“At the state level, every year, there's a number of senators and House reps who always file a bill to expand Medicaid. We have not seen a lot of movement. There really isn't a lot of movement to expand Medicaid right now. However, there is movement in chipping away at it,” the state senator said. 

But with the chipping away, the Texas Tribune reports that Texas remains the state with the most uninsured Americans. Though that number is improving, as of 2022, 16.6% of Texans were still uninsured.    

We asked Senator LaMantia what would be the first step she takes if re-elected and sworn in for another term to help out those who don't have easy access to health care here in the Rio Grande Valley.

“We talked about the FQHC pilot program that we passed last session,” she said. "So my first priority is going to be making sure that that program is fully funded and we're able to expand that pilot program so more smaller employees and community health centers can participate and offer primary care to those individuals who work with small employers so they fall outside of the Medicaid coverage area. But they don't have employee sponsored, employer sponsored health care.”  

LaMantia’s Republican opponent in the November election, businessman Adam Hinojosa responded by saying, “One of the best ways to get great health care is to create stable, well-paying jobs in our area. I will prioritize bringing more doctors and nurses to the Rio Grande Valley by fighting for more Residency slots, nursing education opportunities and continuing to expand telehealth delivery.”