CORPUS CHRISTI Coastal Bend residents could get better access to primary care doctors, specialty care doctors and mental health services, as well as more comprehensive care for the chronically ill, under a new federal financing system the state is implementing.

Area health care providers have submitted proposals for $312 million worth of projects aimed at transforming the way they care for uninsured and other uncompensated patients.

The projects were submitted as part of the Medicaid waiver the state received, which could draw $29 billion for statewide health care providers during the next five years.

The waiver replaces the old financing system in which health care providers received reimbursements for the amount of uncompensated care they provided. Under the new system, some federal dollars will continue to reimburse for uncompensated care but other dollars will go toward projects that cut the cost of health care and improve the quality.

Driscoll Children's Hospital, for example, has proposed expanding some already successful programs, including the Oral Health Project, which provides low-income children with preventive dental care.

"For some of these young kids, it helps reduce incidents of oral health disease that, if you didn't take care of, would have to be treated with surgery," said Eric Hamon, the hospital's vice president and chief financial officer.

Hamon said the new financing system, which will tie money to good patient outcomes and cost efficiency, give health care providers more flexibility in how they treat their patients.

"You tailor the care to the population you serve," he said. "This allows us to specifically carve out, not only what's best for our region, but for the children of South Texas."

Local health care providers picked their projects based on the community's health needs.

The Coastal Bend has an inadequate number of primary and specialty care providers, high numbers of uninsured, inadequate access to behavioral health services and high prevalence of chronic diseases, including heart disease and diabetes, according to the region's plan.

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Area health care providers propose projects to improve care, cut costs with new federal financing system