HELOTES, Texas - In the debate over health care and who pays the bill, here's a radical idea: skip the bill altogether. It's what one doctor in Helotes is doing. All he asks is that patients pay what they can.
Dr. Hector Edwin Tamayo works out of his home.
"The practice is called Good Faith Medical. I came up with the name because the way I work is sort of a practice in good faith," Tamayo said.
Patients told us, "Once you talk to Dr. Tamayo, you'll know the difference."
It's not just that he spends a whole hour with his patients or the fact that he wears Birkenstock sandals. It's also his billing and collections department which is nothing more than a box and a sign asking for a comment and a contribution.
"The only thing that bothers me about it is that I'm afraid sometimes that I'm not sending enough. I don't want to short him any," patient Maurice Jones told us.
Dr. Tamayo said he has received contributions for as little as $5.00 and as much as $500.00. He said a number of his patients have health coverage but he doesn't even bill their insurance companies.
"I've seen patients who are wealthier who live in the Dominion and I've seen patients who live on the south side, " Tamayo explained.
Not one of them is required to pay. It's a plan he came up with when he was going through some tough times after medical school.
"During that time, I was going to church. I kept feeling this calling to start a practice that was modeled like the church working on contributions. Everyone could come regardless of what they could pay or not. It wasn't something that was monitored or kept track of."
Tamayo said he still hasn't made enough to pay himself but he said the practice is an adventure. He has learned a lot and has helped a lot of people.
For more information, go to
goodfaithmedical.net.
