Amid all the screaming about end of life planning, inaccrately labeled as death panels by the right, Gov Jan Brewer, in a stricty political move to earn more conservative cred during an election year, cut funding to Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, labled socialized medicine by the right. Those cuts will save Arizona 5.3 million dollars this year, but it loses the state 20 million in federal funding.
Cutting the funding cut benefits of 1.3 million adults living in Arizona. Just about 100 people who were on the transplant waiting lists were removed from the list due to these cuts after their life saving transplants were deemed "optional" by Arizona Republicans.
The 2nd of which died on Dec 28th.
Whats worse is medical professionals have said that the cuts were based on flawed data.
"The exclusion of coverage for these specified transplants is baseless," says ASTS President Michael M. Abecassis, MD, MBA. "We have made the case convincingly, yet several patients awaiting transplants are still being denied coverage, putting the lives of Arizona citizens in serious peril."
So the next time someone tells you no one in America dies from lack of coverage. Remember the story of Gov Jan Brewer and the 100 patients now awaiting death instead of the life saving transplants they need to survive. And remember their families who will lose their loved ones to flawed data, fiscal irresponsibility and political manuvering.
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