So, what do we do with Scott Graham?
He lives in Buffalo, N.Y., and he suffers from Sickle Cell Anemia – he has no insurance.
The local ambulance service has transported him to the Emergency Room 603 times – sometimes twice a day — but that is not as often as he has called the 911 for an ambulance. He says he has called perhaps a thousand times.
So, why doesn’t he call a cab? Well, he would have to pay a cab – but Medicaid pays for the ambulance and Medicaid requires that an ambulance respond when called.
When the local TV station inquired with Medicaid about this abuse of the system, WGRZ reported that the Medicaid people were less interested in the abuse of the system – by more than $100,000 than they were with how WGRZ got onto the story.
The Austin American Statesman reported that a family of nine has used the Emergency Room of the Luling (Central Texas) community hospital a total of 2,678 times in the past six years.
By my count that is an average of each family member using the emergency room one day a week over that period! (Obviously, some used it more, and some less, but on average…)
Some would argue that is a good reason for universal medical coverage.
I would argue that it is an argument for cutting off medical care for people who abuse it.
Apparently, seven of the family have “mental problems” and eight are illegal drug users.
Tell me again why my taxes should support these creeps?
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