Still following the news out of Haiti?

By SHAILA DEWAN

MIAMI — The United States has suspended its medical evacuations of critically injured Haitian earthquake victims until a dispute over who will pay for their care is settled, military officials said Friday.

The military flights, usually C-130s carrying Haitians with spinal cord injuries, burns and other serious wounds, ended on Wednesday after Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida formally asked the federal government to shoulder some of the cost of the care.

Hospitals in Florida have treated more than 500 earthquake victims so far, the military said, including an infant who was pulled out of the rubble with a fractured skull and ribs. Other states have taken patients, too, and those flights have been suspended as well, the officials said.
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It was not clear on Friday who exactly was responsible for the interruption of flights, or the chain of events that led to the decision. Sterling Ivey, a spokesman for Mr. Crist, said the governor’s request for federal help might have caused “confusion.”

“Florida stands ready to assist our neighbors in Haiti, but we need a plan of action and reimbursement for the care we are providing,” Mr. Ivey said.

Mr. Crist’s request did not indicate how much the medical care was costing the State of Florida, but the number and complexity of the cases could put the total in the millions of dollars. The expenditure comes at a time when the state is suffering economically and Mr. Crist, a Republican, is locked in a tough primary battle for the Senate seat that had been held by Mel Martinez.
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The Health and Human Services spokeswoman, Gretchen Michael, who works for the assistant secretary for preparedness and response, said the agency was reviewing Mr. Crist’s request for financial assistance. The request would involve activating the National Disaster Medical System, which is usually used in domestic disasters and which pays for victims’ care.

Some of the patients being airlifted from Haiti are American citizens and some are insured or eligible for insurance. But Haitians who are not legal residents of the United States can qualify for Medicaid only if they are given so-called humanitarian parole — in which someone is allowed into the United States temporarily because of an emergency — by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Only 34 people have been given humanitarian parole for medical reasons, said Matthew Chandler, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security. The National Disaster Medical System, if activated, would cover the costs of caring for patients regardless of their legal status.

Some hospitals have made their own arrangements to accommodate victims of the earthquake, which occurred on Jan. 12. Jackson Health System, the public hospital system in Miami, treated 117 patients, 6 of whom were still in critical condition, said Jennifer Piedra, a spokeswoman. The system has established the Haiti’s Children Fund to cover the costs of treating pediatric earthquake victims.

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Federal officials could not provide the total number of earthquake patients airlifted to the United States, but Florida seemed to have received the bulk of them.

In his letter, Mr. Crist outlined his state’s efforts to support the rescue effort, helping both the healthy and the sick streaming into the state. “Florida’s health care system is quickly reaching saturation,” he wrote.

I understand it's much better to try and fix Haiti in Haiti, not in American enclaves. But c'mon. Many patients will need advanced medical help. This is more a lack of organization and thinking, than a lack of funds surely. Why not ask hospitals throughout the country to "adopt" a high-needs Haitian patient, and process them locally for any federal benefits should they meet immigration categories, and better yet ... let the hospital charity care help cover the patient's costs.

Me? I can see community fundraisers, school competitive penny drives, church dinner fundraisers, even hospital employee bake sales to help a Haitian family locally. The American spirit of giving: people eat that stuff up.

I have to agree with Gail Collins, this morning discussing the country's wasted generosity impulses after 9-11. People like to help. People want to help. People don't like to be told it's all about money, and quickly turn off when they don't see their dollars donated doing much good. A personal one-to-one approach is more satisfying -- bring the most critically injured Haitians here, but don't dump them all in Florida. Like the Hmongs, and Vietnamese boat people, America's churches and local communities will step up and absorb newcomers, help them assimilate even (especially?) in extreme climes. (Think coat/boot donation drives.)

Sometimes instead of registering like on a gift registry, you have to take the help offered, and ask people truly to step up to the plate, not just impersonally sign a check, or publicly "challenge" their friends and neighbors to do likewise. Feels good for a minute maybe, but it kinda feeds into the bureacratic mess when everybody forgets it takes human compassion, planning, and thinking to accompany the money needed to get the job done, get the lives saved already.

Hope somebody in government is working a Saturday trying to resolve this one... Bad PR, at the very least.