Patterson to Brewer on transplant crisis, Medicaid

UPDATE: TV news coverage, ABC 9 Tucson, Dec 21.
Also read Brewer and her Arizona Republicans own their budget mess, no more excuses


REPRESENTATIVE DANIEL PATTERSON
Arizona State Capitol, Phoenix
Tucson, district 29

December 20, 2010

The Honorable Jan Brewer
Governor of Arizona
1700 W. Washington
Phoenix, AZ 85007

RE: AHCCCS transplant coverage

Dear Governor Brewer:

I am very concerned about how the consequences of last session’s medical transplant-coverage cuts have been handled. I ask you please to take immediate action to restore the $1.4 million program before another Arizonan dies. It has been almost three months since the cuts to transplant coverage took effect, and while a multitude of options have been put forth to achieve the restoration of this funding, so far nothing effective has been done to help sick patients who need action now.

There were 98 people on the transplant list when the program was cut, each with families, friends, loved-ones and, all too often, children to care for. One life has already been lost and a second was spared only due to the kind generosity of an anonymous donor. Attempts to shift the focus away from these sick people and blame the federal government are simply ineffective and unacceptable and tell David Hernandez, one of my constituents in Tucson, and the other transplant candidates desperately waiting for organ matches, that state government thinks the modest savings achieved by these cuts is more valuable than their lives.

There are $30 million in discretionary stimulus funds available to you to allocate as you wish. If, in fact, this money has been spent, I ask you to please call a special session now to come up with alternative funding sources. If any of the stimulus money is still available, I urge you to please immediately direct the expenditure of $1.4 million to restore transplant coverage. If state government continues to stall and wait too long, people will likely die, and no one wants that.

Please let me know how we may work together to solve the transplant crisis.

Thank you,
REPRESENTATIVE DANIEL R. PATTERSON
District 29, Tucson