Hospital recommends fundraising to patient who couldn’t afford heart transplant
In another sign that the cost of healthcare is too high, one hospital system based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, denied a heart transplant to a woman and recommended she try to raise $10,000.
The letter, which was dated Nov. 20, has gone viral on social media and sparked an outcry over the hospital’s response, Detroit Free Press reported. The woman was told by a nurse from Spectrum Health’s Heart & Lung Specialized Care Clinics that she was not eligible for the transplant until she had more secure financing.
"The committee is recommending a fundraising effort of $10,000," the letter reads.
The funds would ensure she could pay for anti-rejection drugs once she received a transplant.
The situation comes as some lawmakers, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), have pitched a Medicare-for-all healthcare system that comes with a cost of about $32.6 trillion over a decade. The system would shift costs away from the individual through taxpayer-funded care delivery.
Spectrum’s response to its patient brought the ire of lawmakers in favor of a Medicare-for-all policy.
“Insurance groups are recommending GoFundMe as official policy––where customers can die if they can’t raise the goal in time––but sure, single payer healthcare is unreasonable,” incoming New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted on Nov. 24, mistakenly referring to Spectrum as an insurance company.
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Amy joined TriMed Media as a Senior Writer for HealthExec after covering home care for three years. When not writing about all things healthcare, she fulfills her lifelong dream of becoming a pirate by sailing in regattas and enjoying rum. Fun fact: she sailed 333 miles across Lake Michigan in the Chicago Yacht Club "Race to Mackinac."