If she only had a heart

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Sen. Hubert Humphrey once said that, “the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped.”

Gov. Jan Brewer said yesterday, "you don't run a state, you don't run a country with your heart."

Gov. Brewer could learn a lesson from the Tin Woodman in the Wizard of Oz who wanted a heart, but learned that his tenderness and compassion meant that he always had a heart.

Gov. Brewer was referring to her opposition to the DREAM Act. Brewer opposes federal DREAM Act (what did those kids ever do to you?) But her statement reflects her general attitude towards transplant patients who have received a death sentence thanks to the GOP-dominated legislature and her Brewercare "death panels."

“The bottom line is we have a billion-dollar deficit going forward and we’re doing the best that we can with the money that we have. And certainly tranplants are an optional treatment that we can’t afford,” Brewer said in late November, the day after Mark Price’s death.

Legislative Democrats on Tuesday called on Gov. Brewer to call a special session for the purpose of the Arizona legislature to restore funding to transplant patients, or to use federal stimulus funds she controls to do so.

Gov. Brewer rejected their plea for a special session, and said "there's no federal money available for the programs within the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, or AHCCCS." Gov. Jan Brewer rejects call to move on organ-transplant funds.

And Legislative Republicans stand by transplant funding cuts, Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required), despite having based their decision on flawed data as previusly reported:

Dr. Maryl Johnson of the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics said she’s concerned that the decision to restrict transplant coverage was based on political pressures and inaccurate medical information.

She disagrees, for example, with the state’s position that lung transplants are palliative, meaning they reduce the severity of a disease but don’t cure it.

Johnson said data supports the view that the medical procedure is life-saving.

“Exclusion of many transplant benefits for Arizona citizens is not a cost-saving measure, but it is a death sentence for patients in need of life saving transplants unless the Legislature reconsiders this coverage restriction,” said Johnson.

Johnson, who is also the president of the American Society of Transplantation, flew to Arizona to ask that the coverage be reinstated.

Just fix this mess you created. People's lives are at stake. Have a heart.