US Suspends Evacuation Flights with Haitian Patients

The US Air Force has suspended medical evacuations because of an apparent federal-state dispute over who would pay for their care, reported The New York Times on Saturday.

The newspaper reported that evacuation flights of victims with serious injuries were suspended starting Wednesday, after Florida Governor Charlie Crist requested federal support to pay for the medical treatment of Haitian victims of the earthquake.

Hospitals in Florida had received more than 500 victims, according to the report, other states that had so far received less than 500 victims were also suspending care until it was confirmed who would pay for the medical attention.

Crist’s office did not specify how much the services would cost but it could reach several millions.

The suspension of flights offering medical assistance for a lack of funding is in sharp contrast to the expenses occurred to send and maintain the more than 13,000 US soldiers in Haiti and to the US $100 million that US President Barack Obama promised to provide to Haiti.