Homeless and illegal immigrants are being denied needed hospital care because they are uninsured, according to 2 Rotterdam doctors who have been treating 20+ uninsured patients /week.
In an articlc in the Dutch medical journal Medisch Contact, the doctors wrote that it is “unacceptable” that “medical help for some patients in our country has declined to a third world level.”
Last January, a new national health insurance system took effect, and hospitals are objecting to the costs and responsibilities that come with uninsured poor patients. [British Medical Journal, 3June06]
“In a country where euthanasia is legal, inexpensive, and accepted medical practice, the temptation for an easy solution to a costly problem could be disastrous.” [ ITF Update, 2006, vol. 20, no. 3]