If Rick Perry had accepted Medicaid Expansion would the Ebola patient have been sent home?

[yellowcanine]

Was the patient sent home partly because he did not have medical insurance? Inquiring minds want to know.

[Schema Thing]

1. this is my question

[kelly1mm]

2. Non US citizens do not qualify for ACA/Medicaid, so if your sugestion is that he was sent home

because of no insurance, expanding Medicaid under the ACA would not have changes this guys status.

[yellowcanine]

4. The point is if hospitals are on the hook for everyone who is uninsured, how does that affect

decision making in triage? It shouldn't matter but are we sure that it did not in this case?

[justabob]

3. not sure how medicaid would matter in this case

I do believe lack of insurance was an issue for this particular patient and how seriously (or not) the medicos treated him, but this guy wouldn't be on Medicaid in any case because he is neither a resident nor citizen of this country or the state of Texas. If this thing spreads, the Medicaid problem will certainly become more of an issue for the residents and citizens of Dallas and beyond, but in this instance I can't see how Medicaid expansion would have changed anything unless there is a provision for tourists.

[yellowcanine]

5. More patients without insurance means fewer resources available.

That's how it could matter. If a hospital is having to absorb a lot of patients without insurance coverage there may be a tendency to look for reasons not to aggressively treat a patient.

[Travis_0004]

6. He is not a US citizen

He is not eligable for Medicaid.

[winter is coming]

7. Yes.

The latest I heard is that a nurse knew the patient had been in Liberia but that fact was somehow not communicated to the rest of the care team. How many times have you filled out forms/answered questions, only to have the doctor respond to you as if he/she had clearly not read the form?