Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 19, 1991 TAG: 9104190490
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MELANIE S. HATTER NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: SHAWSVILLE LENGTH: Medium
The Elliotts must wait to see if Leona, 50, qualifies for Medicare, while the UVa Medical Center waits to see if it qualifies to become a Medicare liver-transplant facility.
Doctors have given Leona Elliott six months to a year to live, but she has to raise $80,000 before she can get a liver transplant at the center. So far, the Elliotts have raised about $12,000, including an anonymous donation of $5,000 from Shawsville.
The Elliotts' hopes were raised when news broke recently that Medicare will pay for liver transplants - under certain conditions.
The transplants, usually costing more than $135,000, will be covered at hospitals that have demonstrated experience and good survival rates, and for patients with a critical need and good recovery chances.
But hospital Administrator David Chiles doesn't know when or if UVa will be approved.
"We do have a lot of hope," he said. "We've been doing them [liver transplants] awhile and have a good track record."
The center did its first liver transplant in 1988 and has done 85 since, with 69 patients surviving. That's slightly more than 81 percent.
The Health Care Financing Administration says hospitals have to show that 77 percent of their liver transplant patients survive at least one year and 60 percent survive at least two years.
The announcement said up to 30 hospitals may be approved as Medicare liver transplant facilities in the next two years, and more later. Currently, 73 U.S. hospitals perform these transplants.
If UVa is not approved, Elliott could transfer to another approved hospital, provided she is eligible for Medicare, Chiles said.
Leona Elliott became ill in 1987 after she contracted hepatitis from a blood transfusion during open-heart surgery in 1972. She was not given Medicaid and Social Security disability until August 1989 and won't become eligible to apply for Medicare until August.
A person must either be 65 or have received disability for two years to be eligible for Medicare. So Elliott is trying to establish an earlier date when she became disabled so she can apply for Medicare now.
However, she would lose the money in her transplant fund to another patient who does not have medical insurance if she got the Medicare and transferred to another hospital, Chiles said.
Her husband, Stan, says that's not fair. People in Virginia donated money to help her, he said. He wants someone else to get the money if his wife dies, but not if it can be used to help her while she's living, he said. Even if covered by Medicare, she would still need money for traveling expenses to another hospital, he said.
But Stan Elliott is doubtful, even if his wife does get Medicare, that the hospital will get approval in time for her to have the operation.
Meanwhile, people are continuing to help the Elliotts raise money. Fund raisers are being held throughout the New River Valley, including a gospel music benefit at Shawsville High School on April 28, 2-5 p.m. Employees at Kroger's in Christiansburg are organizing an all-day Crafts Fair at the store on May 11.
An anonymous contribution of $5,000 came this week from a Shawsville man who wanted to challenge the community to come up with an equal amount, Stan Elliott said.
"Maybe with people like this, we won't need to worry about waiting," he said.
Donations can be sent to Leona Elliott Liver Transplant Fund, University of Virginia, Department of Hospital Admissions, Medical Center, Box 411, Charlottesville 22906-9983, or call (804) 924-2619, or contact the Bank of Shawsville, where a trust fund has been established.
by CNB