Medical Care for Haitians: US Announces Funding
Filed under: Global Health Care, Help Haiti, Undocumented Aliens
This past Sunday, the White House resumed military airlift of injured Haitians into the United States. The halt on incoming Haitian patients had happened just days earlier, springing from the economic and logistic fears of many state officials of Florida, where the majority of patients from Haiti were being sent for care. After finding a solution to the hospital capacity issue in Florida, and fully knowing that they could not keep certain patients in the medically hazardous environment which is Haiti, White House officials reopened U.S. hospital doors to badly injured patients. Yet, the resounding question “who is going to pay for this emergency care?” remains.
The costs are not insignificant. One Florida hospital executive estimates costs to her hospital alone to be in the millions, and while she hopes some of this cost will be lessened through federal government assistance, other hospitals have already started to initiate reimbursement for the costs themselves through private donations. In addition, many doctors and nurses are volunteering their services to help reduce the high cost of the care.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced on Monday that they would supply funding for the emergency care through the National Disaster Medical System, which is usually accessed only in times of domestic emergencies. As described in the announcement, “activation will allow U.S. hospitals that treat Haitian patients evacuated with life-threatening injuries due to the earthquake, to receive federal reimbursement for the costs they incur.” The reimbursement for the care to Haitians is equal to 110% of Medicare rates.
Since the announcement of aid through the National Disaster Medical System, hospitals in other areas, such as Atlanta, are agreeing to treat patients. Hospitals in the Atlanta and Florida area are able to provide assistance due to their proximity to Haiti and their “extensive medical resources.” Other hospitals in the New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Boston areas have been notified that their medical centers may also be tapped for help in treating the Haitian patients.
Because some of the patients that are being treated at American hospitals are American citizens who were in Haiti when the earthquake hit, some of the medical care can be reimbursed through the insurance coverage that those patients may already have or be eligible to receive. Interestingly, Haitians who are not legal residents of the United States might also qualify for insurance through Medicaid, but to qualify, the patients would have to be granted “Humanitarian Parole” by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Up until this point, Humanitarian Parole visas, which last for a year, have mostly been granted to orphans who were already in the process of being adopted before January 12th. Only 50 Humanitarian Parole visas have been granted to those who were sent to the United States for health care; due to the difficulty in tracking patients after their care is complete, the Immigration Services is hesitant to grant more such visas.
While the federal government appears to have systems in place to aid Haitians who are in dire need of medical care for now, questions about long term help still linger. International aid experts want to see systems of sustainability put into place so that Haiti can once again stand on its own after the foreign aid ends. Maybe our nation’s leaders will be able to give to Haiti the health care reform it needs, even if they can’t give it to America itself.
