A jury has ruled in favor of a Florida hospital that transported a Guatemalan patient back to his home country against the wishes of the patient’s guardian. The verdict that Martin Memorial Medical Center acted reasonably in chartering transportation for Luis Jimenez, a severely brain injured man, will not go unnoticed by hospitals across the country confronting the question of how to handle illegally present immigrant patients who are uninsured and ineligible for Medicaid or Medicare.
According to the NY Times, this is the first case heard by a jury on this subject. And even if the US moves toward universal health coverage, the proposals currently being debated in Congress would exclude illegally present immigrants. It is also not clear if patients like Jimenez would be eligible for legalization under the various immigration reform proposals being discussed since applicants will likely have to pass English tests.