As several members of the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors seek ways to reduce the big operating deficit at the county’s hospital in San Mateo, lots of proposals to finance health care for thousands of uninsured local adults are being thrown around. One of the most enticing, for now, seems to be tapping into tax revenues generated by two large health care districts, Peninsula and Sequoia. The theory is that, since neither district actually operates a hospital anymore (both are handled by outside entities today), why not siphon off those millions of dollars and hand the dough over to a program for uninsured adults (more than half of whom aren’t even U.S. citizens), thus easing the burden on the county’s stressed hospital? Besides, some cash from the districts is already helping to pay for medcal care for uninsured children in the county as we speak. According to their balance sheets, the districts currently have about $100 million in cash and cash equivalents sitting in reserves. So what’s the big deal? Well, for one thing, it’s not the county’s money at all. It belongs to the districts’ taxpayers. For another, this sort of raid on those two coffers would have to be approved by those same folks at some point. Highly doubtful. And then there is one more tender matter to consider: Some of those property owners who pay taxes to those districts can’t even use their particular hospitals (and/or physicians) because their own medical insurance companies don’t contract with them, thus disallowing preferred provider rates. It’s a complex and unfair formula that penalizes those unfortunate enough to be in that category. Charity is fine if everyone is treated fairly. But that wouldn’t be the case if the county succeeds in grabbing those funds.