According to an internal document, the U.S. State Department wants to bring Ebola-infected doctors and medical aides to the U.S. for treatment. Apparently, the only way to get other countries to send medical teams to West Africa is to ensure that the U.S. will be an open-door hospital for any workers who contract the deadly virus:
Some countries “are implicitly or explicitly waiting for medevac assurances” before they will agree to send their own medical teams to join U.S. and U.N. aid workers on the ground, the State Department argues in the undated four-page memo, which was reviewed by The Washington Times.
“The United States needs to show leadership and act as we are asking others to act by admitting certain non-citizens into the country for medical treatment for Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) during the Ebola crisis,” says the four-page memo, which lists as its author Robert Sorenson, deputy director of the office of international health and biodefense.
The memo estimates costs per patient at $200,000 for transportation and $300,000 for treatment.
One State Department official stated Tuesday, “There is no policy of the U.S. government to allow entry of non-U.S. citizen Ebola-infected to the United States. There is no consideration in the State Department of changing that policy.” A second official said, “We have discussed allowing other countries to use our medevac capabilities to evacuate their own citizens to their home countries or third-countries, subject to reimbursement and availability,” but not anything about treating non-citizens in the U.S.
However, the memo was cleared by offices of the deputy secretary, the deputy secretary for management, the office of Central African affairs and the medical services office.
Is this why Obama doesn’t want to enact a travel ban?
