Thread: Undocumented Immigrant, Denied Kidney Transplant

Jesus Navarro, An Undocumented Immigrant, Denied Kidney Transplant Despite Willing Donor And Insurance Coverage


First Posted: 01/31/2012 8:18 pmUpdated: 02/ 1/2012 6:58 pm





Jesus Navarro had everything he needed to get a kidney transplant in the United States--private insurance and a willing donor, his wife, with a compatible blood type.
The one thing he didn't have was a green card.
It was the Oakland resident's undocumented status that caused officials at UCSF Medical Center to refuse to perform the necessary medical procedure needed to save Navarro's life from the kidney failure he began experiencing nearly a decade ago.
"UCSF's policy for financial clearance requires candidates to present evidence of adequate and stable insurance coverage or other financial sources necessary to sustain follow-up care long after transplant surgery," Recce Fawley, UCSF's executive director of transplantation, told the Contra Costa Times in a statement. "Immigration status is among many factors taken into consideration."
Even though Navarro was in the country illegally, he had private insurance from the 14 years he worked at the Pacific Steel foundry in Berkeley. He lost his job earlier this month as a result of an internal immigration sweep by the company; however, his insurance carrier is still covering him.
If he loses this insurance and ends up on the rolls of California's Medi-Cal program, which the Contra Costa Times said was likely, it would pay for his dialysis but not the transplant itself or the drugs that would be necessary after surgery. UCSF's lack of confidence in Navarro's ability to afford the drugs was at the crux of the hospital's decision to deny the procedure.
In the years since the Connie Frank Transplant Center was established in 1964, UCSF has performed more kidney transplants than any other hospital in the world.

Health care for undocumented immigrants has long been a contentious issues both in California and nationwide. In 1994, California voters passed Proposition 187, which would have prevented all illegal immigrants from using any publicly funded health care services had it not been subsequently deemed unconstitutional by a federal judge.
Republicans in the Arizona legislature last year considered a bill that would have required all hospitals in the state check a patient's immigration status before administering care.
According to a study by the United Network for Organ Sharing, undocumented immigrants in the United States donate significantly more organs than they receive. Transplant Week reports:

Immigrants who are in the U.S. without proper papers account for about 2 percent of all cadaver organs donated in the United States and receive just over one percent of all U.S. organ transplants, according to UNOS.

Last year, a similar case to Narvarro's made the news in New York City, an undocumented waiter was unable to get funding for a $100,000 kidney transplant from his brother, even though his government insurance was willing to pay for his dialysis to the tune of $75,000 annually.
The New York Times reports:

"As a physician, it puts you in a real ethical dilemma," said Dr. Eric Manheimer, Bellevue's medical director, noting that a transplant would sharply reduce Angel's risk of death from complications. "The ultimate irony is it's cheaper to put in a transplant than to dialyze someone for the rest of their life." ... "Here's the paradox: he could donate, but he can't receive," Dr. Manheimer said.

Jesus Navarro, An Undocumented Immigrant, Denied Kidney Transplant Despite Willing Donor And Insurance Coverage

[QUOTEEven though Navarro was in the country illegally, he had private insurance from the 14 years he worked at the Pacific Steel foundry in Berkeley. He lost his job earlier this month as a result of an internal immigration sweep by the company;][/QUOTE]

About darn time, that is a job an American would really like to have. Unfortunately, the chances are high that the company will bring in a legal immigrant to take the job before they will give it to an American.

W

Compare the IAs story to this one of a native New yorker:

By Simone Weichselbaum / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Wednesday, February 1, 2012, 4:00 AM
Updated: Wednesday, February 1, 2012, 4:00 AM


Penelope Morales (left) seen here with a friend, is battling leukemia but can't get a life-saving operation until she pays part of an insurance bill.

The clock is ticking for Penelope Morales.

The 27-year-old who grew up in the Farragut Houses is battling leukemia, and said doctors can’t perform a needed bone marrow transplant - using cells from her younger sister- until she can pay part of the insurance bill.

“I am so overwhelmed,” said Morales, who left Brooklyn in 2009 for Orlando, Fl. - too sick to handle the city’s winters.

Morales is scheduled to go under the knife in April but can’t afford the $6,000 which she said UnitedHealthcare wants for the grueling procedure.

“When I was in New York, the doctor told me to go on Medicaid. I was like ‘no.’ I work forty hours a week. I won’t let this stop me.”

As the clock ticks, Morales’ relatives have started a nationwide call for cash, using Facebook and asking friends as far away as Texas to hand out postcards pleading for money.

“Without the operation, she is going to die,” said mom Marie Morales choking back tears.

Word of the Morales emergency is spreading through the Downtown Brooklyn housing complex, and neighbors are pitching in to help.

Public School 307’s cheerleader coach Tracy Dickerson, who trained Penelope Morales nearly two decades ago, is having her pint-sized team make lunches and dinners to raise the needed dough.

“I haven’t been able to sleep. I keep thinking what I can do,” Dickerson said.

Average fees for a bone marrow transplant, post-operative care, and medication is $800,000, according to the National Foundation for Transplants, a patient advocacy group that took on Morales’ case last week.

United agreed to pay 80 percent of Morales’ treatment, a NFT spokesperson said, still leaving her with a high tab.

A United spokesperson said the company can’t comment on Morales’ case.

Not being able to pay medical costs is a common problem for insured patients seeking transplants across the country, said NFT spokesperson Mandy Stockton.

“A lot of hospitals require a deposit. They have to make sure that you can afford life-long medication,” said Stockton. “Unfortunately people pass away because the holdup is money.”

simonew@nydailynews.com

Read more: Penelope Morales, Brooklyn woman battling leukemia, can't afford life-saving surgery - NY Daily News