Ensuring we have the doctors and health care our families need

South Texas has long paid a price for our nation’s neglect of healthcare. With children growing up without the security of healthcare, and many seniors getting by on fixed incomes, the rising costs and shortage of providers has hit us hard. Senator Hinojosa has been extremely vocal in advocating for increased investment in healthcare, while educating policymakers that these investments save money by preventing higher costs from being passed down to local taxpayers.

  • Authored historic legislation, Senate Bill 24, that created the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. This authorized the merger of UT-Pan American and UT-Brownsvilleand the creation of a free standing medical school.The expansion of educational opportunities will create greater access to healthcare and the related healthcare businesses that the medical school will attract will be a great boost to our quality of life in South Texas. There will be more jobs, lower poverty levels, higher educational levels, more healthcare services, more access to doctors and more resources to serve the unique and critical needs of our families.
  • Passed legislation that created a statewide healthcare provider protection plan that will allow doctors, therapist, pharmacists and other Medicaid providers to more effectively focus on treating patients and our families rather than wasting time on paperwork and administrative burdens created by the managed care system. These protections will implement modernization procedures and emphasize “red tape” elimination.
  • Secured $5 million for Driscoll’s Children’s Hospital.
  • Fought to protect healthcare providers who serve low-income families from further cuts and helped ensure struggling families have increased access to care.
  • Passed legislation that created a physician loan repayment program that will bring as many as 225 primary care physicians to underserved areas.