Gov. Jan Brewer rejects call to move on organ-transplant funds
by Michelle Ye Hee Lee | The Arizona Republic

Gov. Jan Brewer on Tuesday continued to reject requests for a special session to restore medical transplant coverage, despite the growing national and local attention on the state's cuts.

Democratic legislators again called for Brewer to hold a special session or use discretionary federal stimulus funds to reinstate cuts for certain transplant coverage through the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System.

Brewer maintains her position that unless legislators provide a solution to what her office calls a $1 billion gap in funding for the Medicaid agency, she will not call a special session.

The cuts - which include certain kinds of pancreas, liver, heart, lung, and bone-marrow transplants - went into effect Oct. 1. Several national media outlets, including the New York Times, CNN and MSNBC, have reported on the impacts of Arizona's transplant cuts over the past two weeks, often dubbing the cuts "Brewercare" or "Brewer death panels."

As a result of news coverage, patients registered in the National Transplant Assistance Fund have seen a surge of donations. As of Saturday, Laveen liver-disease patient Francisco Felix had raised $74,124 and Mesa heart-transplant hopeful Randy Shepherd had raised $52,720, according to the organization. Both need to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars more.

Democratic lawmakers, health-care professionals, patients and their families held a news conference on Tuesday to urge Brewer to restore the cuts.

"They're humans, just as much as every one of us here, as much as she (Brewer) is," said Sandra Felix, Francisco Felix's niece.

Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said Tuesday that he wanted to revisit the cuts when the Legislature returns in January, because new data "suggest that some, if not all, of these transplants should be reconsidered for reinstatement."

However, Brewer won't call a special session without a plan to close the funding gap. Spokesman Paul Senseman said the $30 million left in stimulus discretionary funds has all been spoken for, and it can't be reallocated.

The Arizona Republic requested records from the Governor's Office three weeks ago that would show how the stimulus dollars had been allocated. As of Tuesday, the office has pointed to a report filed with the federal government that covers expenditures through Sept. 30. The office has not yet provided any information on stimulus allocations from Oct. 1 to the present.

Senseman said Brewer was open to new solutions and ideas to solve the state's budget crisis, but that she had not seen any "legitimate" proposals or scientific data yet.