Arizona health plan

Some of you may have heard about those 98 people on a waiting list for organ transplants in Arizona. If you haven't let me explain. The state of Arizona had a program that helped people who needed organ transplants and could not afford them. I say had because Jan Brewer recently cut all funding to the program. After the story broke on national news a Republican from Illinois went through the Arizona state budget to see what could be done to save the program, he found 27 possible solutions. Jan Brewer didn't use any of them. Instead she unveiled her own plan.
She would cut all Medicaid benefits to 280,000 childless adults in her state, some of whom are severely mentally ill.
She says that the money saved would go to fund the transplant program and save the lives of the now 96 people on the list.
I think this is the most disgusting display of robbing Peter to pay Paul. As if the concept of stealing health benefits from half a million people were not horrid enough, the money would not benefit those on the transplant list until July.
Another major flaw in this plan is that the Medicaid money would not be enough to pay for all of the surgeries and the likelihood of finding a doctor willing to do surgery for pennies on the dollar is slim. The other major flaw is this. Under the old program the government gave the state a grant of three million dollars to help pay for the transplants, now that it is gone so is that money.
Finally Governor Brewer seems to be counting on the fact that none of these 280,000 people who would now have no insurance will get sick. Does she think that these people will remain healthy because they can no longer see a doctor?
So, why be concerned? For one thing this plan is horribly misguided, there are some who are saying that Brewer is using the transplants as an excuse to cut benefits that she would have cut anyway. That doesn't seem to be a bad assumption.
I care because these are people who are the most vulnerable, adults who don't have children and persons who are mentally ill have very few resources that they can count on for help.
The other reason is that as of last year, the state of Utah has looked to Arizona for guidance. I shudder to think that our legislature might pick up on this idea and write a bill of their own just like it. Make sure you know how to contact your representatives this is one idea that fails everyone.