Home  / News / In the News

Don't fix budget at the cost of life

Nov. 19, 2010 12:00 AM The Arizona Republic

When the Legislature eliminated coverage for some organ transplants under AHCCCS, it was a line on a budget. When a desperately ill man was denied a liver transplant, we saw the life-and-death stakes of that decision.

Francisco Felix was in the hospital, with a liver available (through the sad death of a family friend). Then the family learned that last month, AHCCCS (our version of Medicaid) stopped covering liver transplants for patients who have hepatitis C, as the 32-year-old Laveen father does.

About 100 Arizonans in the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System are waiting for transplants that are no longer covered. That includes 60 with livers ravaged by hepatitis C. The cutoff of AHCCCS coverage was based on the mixed outlook in such cases, because of re-infection from hepatitis C. But it's the only hope for these patients.

Federal stimulus dollars might provide short-term help, a solution Democrats are urging.

The Felix family tried to raise the $200,000 to pay for the surgery themselves. But they had only hours and couldn't do it. The liver went to another patient.

AHCCCS is a major part of the state budget, and we face a massive deficit next year. But there must be a solution that does not require denying life-saving treatment to Arizonans.