show, last october the state of arizona cut funding for some kinds of organ transplants from its medicaid budget. think about that. it s pretty severe, isn t it? that left 98 people unable to afford transplants that could save their lives. now, two of them have died so far. do we care about that? republicans justified the cuts by saying that these transplants, well, they almost never worked. well, now some actual experts have studied that the claim is absolute bull. last year republican state senate president russell pierce said about those 98 people, and i m quoting, folks, most of those will die anyway. arizona transplant experts said even then that they had plenty of patients who survived. and now the actual data has been reviewed by three big groups that deal with organ transplants, and they say the studies behind the republican claims are, quote, flawed and outdated.
finally tonight on the ed show, last october the state of arizona cut funding for some kinds of organ transplants from its medicaid budget. think about that. it s pretty severe, isn t it? that left 98 people unable to afford transplants that could save their lives. now, two of them have died so far. do we care about that? republicans justified the cuts by saying that these transplants, well, they almost never worked. well, now some actual experts have studied that the claim is absolute bull. last year republican state senate president russell pierce said about those 98 people, and i m quoting, folks, most of those will die anyway. arizona transplant experts said even then that they had plenty of patients who survived.
value rates for transplant procedures but transplant groups say the data they looked at was faulty and outdated. the transplant group sent governor brewer a letter in june saying proposed changes to one type of heart transplant for example, were based on inadequate and discriminatory data. lung transplants were cut out entirely because arizona s version of medicaid said data showed the surgery didn t extend life expectancy. 66% of patients survive at least three years after having a lung transplant. brewer said she would consider restoring the transplant funding if she were provided ideas where to get the money. turns out she got some ideas. representatives from four arizona hospitals sent her a letter recommending other cost-cutting measures this they say could at least save the same amount if not more than cutting the transplants. they say they never heard back. as local transplant experts this group of doctors say they were not consulted in the first place and no one listened. what
as local transplant experts this group of doctors say they were not kulgted in the first place and no one listened. what about federal stimulus money? could that be used? we were told that there are $30 million in federal stimulus dollars unaccounted for of the money that s been spent. $2 million went to fixing the roof at the coliseum which is a apparently, a rarely-used venue and $2.4 million went to algae research. what is this saving? it s $1.4 million a year. we asked governor brewer to come on the program tonight and she said she wasn t available tonight or for the entire rest of the month or the first half of january. the invitation stands. arizona state representative was available and she feels strongly about this. not only politically but personally as a transplant survivor. i talked to her earlier tonight. representative, you had a bone mayor roy transplant ten years ago and you said it saved