Thread: TX: UTMB plan unusual, controversial

Sad but how much are the hospitals expected to keep absorbing in costs?
We can all thank the federal government for this crisis.

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UTMB plan unusual, controversial

By Laura Elder
The Daily News
Published December 2, 2007

GALVESTON — The University of Texas Medical Branch is considering a policy that would deny cancer care to indigent, undocumented immigrants — an unusual and controversial move for a state-funded institution.

Medical branch officials are forming the policy as they strain to stretch dwindling state dollars for uninsured patients and while illegal immigration ranks among the most divisive issues in the nation.

Turning away undocumented cancer patients undoubtedly would pull the oldest medical school west of the Mississippi into a fierce contemporary debate about the legality and fairness of treating undocumented immigrants with tax dollars when millions of uninsured legal residents can’t afford health care.

It also will force the institution to face thorny questions about simple compassion and the limits of a physician’s duty to treat the ailing.

“Certainly it’s not a decision we’re taking lightly,â€

MEXICO HAS PLENTY OF RESOURCES TO GIVE MEDICAL HELP TO THEIR CITIZENS. THESE PATIENTS WITH CANCER SHOULD BE GIVEN FREE PASSAGE TO MEXICO. HEALTH PROFESSIONALS IN MEXICO SHOULD BE CONTACTED IN ADVANCE SO THE PATIENT GETS IMMEDIATE CARE WHEN THEY ARRIVE.

What if there are two 30 year old individuals needing a transplant. Both have a husband and 2 children. One woman is an American citizen with insurance and one is an illegal alien without insurance. Both will die within 6 months without the transplant. There is a donated organ that is compatible with both women. Which one gets the transplant?

I say give them care and send the bill to Felipe Calderon.