Georgia’s Republican Gov. Wants To Save Money By Not Allowing Poor People To Receive Emergency Care!
by Bob Cull
The
Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act of 1986 requires that a
hospital treat anyone in an emergency, regardless of citizenship or
ability to pay and it has saved many lives since it was enacted. Governor Nathan Deal
(R) of Georgia thinks that it is an onerous law which is costing way to
much money and wants Congress to repeal it and just let those poor
people die.
Deal, who has been vocal in his opposition to Obamacare, called for the repeal of the law at a University of Georgia political science alumni event.
“If
they really want to get serious about lowering the cost of health care
in this country, they would revisit another federal statute that has
been there for a long time,” Deal said. “It came as a result of bad
facts, and we have a saying that bad facts make bad law.”
At
the time the law was being considered in Congress, supporters cited
incidences where pregnant women were turned away because they had no
insurance and were unable to pay for services. But Deal is compassionate
and has a solution for this. He thinks that the law can be rewritten so
that hospitals have to treat pregnant women but can still turn others
away. Continuing with the law as is just costs too darn much, he says.
Of course, the real problem is that Deal is one of the governors who has refused to accept the Medicaid expansion
provided for in the ACA, and this is putting pressure on many hospital
emergency rooms in his state since those unable to obtain health care
insurance are swamping them, particularly in rural areas, because it is
the only way these people can obtain any health care.
The
financial pinch his state is feeling is due to the governor's own
policies but just as he did in January when his state was paralyzed by a
winter storm he is not going to accept responsibility for his actions,
he is going to blame the federal government.
When winter storm Leon
hit his state after several days of warnings from the National Weather
Service, Deal claimed that the meteorologists there had not told him
that his state was about to be hit.
Now
that his refusal to expand Medicaid, at no cost to his state initially
and never costing the state more than 10% of the increased costs, he
wants to place the blame again on the federal government this time
saying that it is because of a law that was signed in 1986 by Republican
icon Ronald Reagan.
As always Deal's solution is to just let the poor die, after all they contribute nothing of value to society.
h/t: Wonkette
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