Only The Rich Can Get Organ Transplants Now in Arizona
You know what should definitely be the last thing that states should ever cut from their budgets? Money for life-saving organ transplants. In Arizona, cuts to state medicaid have literally stolen organ transplants from sick poor people.
Here's one of the about 100 Arizonans who are now scrambling to raise funds for their own lung/bone marrow/liver transplants after the Republican-controlled legislature cut state funding for certain kinds of transplants back in March:
Francisco Felix, 32, a father of four who has hepatitis C and is in need of a liver, received news a few weeks ago that a family friend was dying and wanted to donate her liver to him. But the budget cuts meant he no longer qualified for a state-financed transplant.
He was prepared anyway at Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center as his relatives scrambled to raise the needed $200,000. When the money did not come through, the liver went to someone else on the transplant list.
No one has died because of the cuts, yet, which is probably the only reason Gov. Jan Brewer is able to defend the move: "The state only has so much money," she said. Well maybe Arizona could start by tearing down those flag-bedecked border walls and selling them for scrap metal. What if all those transplant recipients promise to join the Minutemen once they get healthy, would that work?
Jesus: After reading this story you may donate to National Transplant Assistance Fund.
