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Doesn’t seem right

 

Re the Dec. 23 story Family in need of medical supplies for comatose son: I voted for President Obama and I was heartbroken by the story of the Cilley family. But, if the story is right, taxpayers are now paying for much of the medical care of a person who suffered an accident in his native Argentina and emigrated to the United States in a comatose state.

Absent extraordinary circumstances — and the story doesn’t provide much detail — that doesn’t seem right. People may agree or disagree on whether the government should be providing healthcare to noncitizens who become ill or injured in the United States, but I would think that there would be near consensus that it should not pay if it happened outside the United States.

My point is unrelated to the plea for help, and I hope the story prompts charitable people to contribute to the Cilley family. My point is that the laws or regulations bear scrutiny if they allow Medicaid to pay for what happened to a foreigner outside the United States.

Ernesto Martin, Coral Gables

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