Schumer to Obama: Reimburse NYC for $20M Ebola treatment

November 16, 2014 | 4:19pm

In a press conference outside Bellevue Hospital, Sen. Charles Schumer called for the federal government to reimburse the city for the more than $20 million of care and treatment that went into curing Dr. Craig Spencer of Ebola. Photo: Helayne Seidman

Senator Charles Schumer wants President Obama to pick up New York City’s more than $20 million tab for treating its first Ebola patient.

Since the Big Apple and Bellevue Hospital treated and cured Dr. Craig Spencer of the “infectious disease that is a threat to the nation,” the New York lawmaker believes the government should pony up and reimburse the city.

“Last week, Dr. Spencer thankfully returned home healthy and free of Ebola,” Schumer said Sunday. “But the world-class response mounted by New York City and Bellevue HHC was not free, and the bottom line is local communities and local taxpayers should not foot the whole bill for handling an infectious disease that is a threat to the nation.”

The senator said that the city and hospital should be compensated in the same way that communities are compensated following a natural disaster.

“Moreover, we must make sure that there is funding available in the future for any city that may handle a confirmed Ebola case,” he added.

The proposed “Ebola Contigency Fund” would help control the spread of the deadly virus by establishing a way to properly fund states and localities so they can treat patients.

Dr. Craig SpencerPhoto: Getty Images

This new plan would be modeled after similar funds, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s federal isolation and quarantine fund for Tuberculosis within the Division of Global Migration. This fund sets aside $1 million in federal funding for states and localities to treat possible tuberculosis patients and to also contain the disease.

The $1 million also ensures that sufficient resources are available at all times in case federal isolation orders are handed down to quarantine a person.

Around 100 healthcare workers were involved in treating Spencer while he was isolated at Bellevue, Schumer said.

In addition, a 24-hour-a-day operation which employed approximately 500 staffers was established by the city’s Health Department to keep track of the estimated 300 people who arrive each day from Ebola hotspots in West Africa.

As of right now, the entire state of New York is expected to receive $14.6 million of the $6.1 billion that the President has requested for Ebola funding. The money would only cover “preparedness activities” and would not account for actual costs involving Ebola treatment and activities focused on preventing its spread.

Schumer’s planned “Ebola Fund” was launched in the upcoming Fiscal Year 2015 omnibuss bill and is set to be considered during the lame duck session.

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..... if more cases continue to pop up in the the USA, the states and hospitals will have to figure out how to bring the treatment, contact tracing, etc  costs down - its not a sustainable response model - even if they received federal emergency funding.