Doctor told to get out because of son with Down syndrome

[AlphaCentauri]

Source: herald sun

A MIGRANT doctor and his family are being forced to leave Australia, and the Victorian town that desperately needs him, because his son has Down syndrome.

Dr Bernhard Moeller answered a call from the Federal Government and the Horsham community two years ago, and moved from Germany to become the town's only permanent specialist physician.

But the Department of Immigration and Citizenship this week rejected an application from Dr Moeller and his family for permanent residency because his 13-year-old son, Lukas, has Down syndrome and does not fit the bureaucracy's health criteria.

On advice from a government doctor, the department wrote to Dr Moeller saying his son had been assessed as a burden on Australian taxpayers and could not be granted permanent residency.



Read more: http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24578829-661,00.html

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Are we there yet?

[dugaresa]

1. we were there years ago...

Folks were turned back at Ellis Island for not being "fit enough"

But...you would think that people would evolve...

[noonwitch]

10. My grandpa had a relative who had the measles

the relative had to go back to Italy, recover, and come back and reapply.

I can understand in that case, because measles is a communicable disease and there were no vaccines then. But Downs'? What is wrong with the Australians?

[predfan]

2. you know, for all I bitch and moan, and as badly as the politicians

have screwed up our country, it's still the best in the world.........there's just room for more improvement, hopefully starting Tuesday.

[Wednesdays]

11. What, we're the best in the world because Australia has this one problem?

Don't forget Mongolia had Genghis Khan...at least we're better than them, too.

[saigon68]

16. Not Really we have a Chimpanzee

[OwnedByFerrets]

18. No we are NOT the best at anything except killing and starting wars.

Go research the stats and you will see some startling truths.

[heliarc]

24. Best in the world with the worst infant mortality among industrialized

nations... go figure. If you count plastic surgery and elective surgeries maybe we're the best. Maybe. I'll let everyone in Beverly Hills know that you approve.

[sharp_stick]

3. Down's Syndrome

is cause to reject somebody in Australia? Immigration policies are just totally fucked up around the world. Here I thought the Aussies were at least a bit more evolved than us.
Western countries now have immigration departments that exist solely to toss road blocks in front of potential citizens.

[GodlessBiker]

4. We should have a pool on the closest guess of when this gets reversed.

At least let's hope the publicity makes the government there ashamed of itself.

[customerserviceguy]

9. The publicity

is likely to make some other nation offer Dr. Moeller and his family an open-arms welcome to be a physician in one of their needy communities.

[MBS]

5. this is pretty sick.

. . and the decision is not even in the government's self-interest!

[HereSince1628]

6. What a shame. What do they provide tri-somy 21 cases from their own pop.?

Is it really that big a financial deal?

[valerief]

7. This is what Republicans want here. No tax burdens. No highways.

No social security. No nuthin'. Where the hell are the bigwigs gonna get their bailouts if not from tax dollars?

[JonQ]

12. Not really an accurate critique

The premise for kicking these folks out is that providing health care for the child would be a burden on the Australian taxpayers because they have a publicly funded health care system.

If the government weren't providing universal health care this would not be an issue.

[azurnoir]

17. The childs father is a doctor

one would think it would balance out. But thanks for prespective and subtle anti-universal health care stump.BTW would the same apply to any country with government subsidized health care?

[JonQ]

20. Perhaps

but not every parent of a child with downs syndrome is a doctor (or equivalent, high paid professional) which I suspect is why they created this criteria for immigrants. It wouldn't really be fair to bend the rules for those of the upper-class while sticking it to the poorer folk would it?

And I wasn't taking a stance against UHC, merely trying to be objective. The basis for this law is that healthcare is provided by the state, and as such it wouldn't really be fair to attribute this to republicans, as the user I was responding to did.

And yes, I'd say any country where the taxpayers are responsible for healthcare will be more likely to come up with laws regulating individual health issues. Essentially if you're paying for it then you feel you should have a say in how the moneys being spent. Seems pretty logical to me.

[valerief]

25. Yeah, just like we do with roads.

Thank you for your concern.

[JonQ]

27. And since roads are a publicly funded enterprise

we regulate who can use them. Just like Australia is regulating who can use another publicly funded enterprise; healthcare. I still fail to see how this can be attributed to republicans. They're *opposed* to public funding for roads, therefore they would *support* UHC thus giving them the initiative to kick out sick immigrants.

That makes little sense to me.

[Romulox]

8. Here's a news flash: no country that has UHC has open door immigration

All resources are finite...

[Wednesdays]

13. Yes, and he gives back far more to the community

than what it costs to treat his child.

Kindergarten toys are finite, too. :think:

[Romulox]

15. I don't know if he does or does not. However, under a UHC regime, immigrants are screened for their

potential drain on public health resources.

For an example, look into how much stricter Canada's immigration policies are than our own. One of the things a potential immigrant to Canada must prove is that they will not be a net drain on healthcare resources.

[McCamy Taylor]

14. Idiots. The health care they spent on the Downs kid would have been offset by the MDs services.

More than offset. Whoever processed the application did not realize that he was providing vital rural health care services. Ordinarily in a situation like this, the legislator for the rural area would take charge and lay down the riot act for the bureaucrats in charge of immigration.

This is what is known as cutting off your nose to spite your face.

[GinaMaria]

19. This sort of information may not

be part of the decision process. Their process needs a repair. Seems like a no brainer but when people who make the decisions are not empowered to make exception or use common sense, there's going to be quality issues. This should wake up the Australian government to make appropriate changes.

[JonQ]

21. Are you saying

immigrants should be treated differently based on their income bracket?

[GinaMaria]

22. Not sure if you asked me or the other poster

No. I don't believe that, but as it stands immigrants are left out of most gov run health care programs. There does need to be an exception process like this example. This is someone contributing to their health care system directly. He could come here and work and earn a lot more money. He chose to work there for less money but probably thought his family's health would be covered. He has more to bargain with than a lot immigrants. I'm not saying that's right, just saying that's how the system (in general) works. In this case, they (Australia) may find they are doing more harm than good to themselves by denying access to this doctor and his family.

[JonQ]

23. I was responding to the other poster.

But isn't health care in Australia provided by the government (I'm almost certain it is)? And this guy was planning on being a citizen, or at least living and working there for the near future. So he would be eligible for government services right? I assume so, it's possible Australia denies coverage to recent immigrants, but that doesn't sound likely to me.

And yeah, in this case it is probably a net loss. But presumably they did the math, considering the loss in tax revenue they'd suffer by kicking all immigrants with health issues out, versus the loss they'd get from the increased health care burden and found that overall they would save money with this policy. I don't think it'd be that hard to come up with an average income for new immigrants, and the average increase in costs entailed if they have a pre-existing condition and figuring it out from there.

[Karenina]

26. This is NOT about his "income bracket."

It is about the value of his SERVICE to the community.

[Matilda]

28. Health Minister Nicola Roxon has stepped in,

and will speak directly to the Immigration Minister about the case.

I'd be willing to bet the family will stay.

[canetoad]

29. I'd say it was a done deal Matilda

Been following this all day and wish to hell the OP posted a link to ANYTHING but that livid, tabloid, Murdoch rag, the Herald Sun. Per ABC news first thing today the explanation was that this is a 'tick the box' situation, where there are no shades of grey in the legislation. The can be (as happens frequently) an appeal which will examine the case on its merits and there can be ministerial intervention.

At one stage I heard the rabble clamouring for the Chris Evans to make an immediate statement - an idiotic suggestion as he may shortly be in the position of making a judgement on the case and should not be intimidated by knee-jerk, incomplete rants by the Herald-Sun.

IMO this is a storm in a tea-cup. The appeal was always going to happen, the entry requirements are what they are, for the time being; until they are changed this is how the course needs to be run. They will stay, this is not Howard's Australia.

[Violet_Crumble]

30. German doctor allowed to stay

A German doctor denied permanent residency because his son has Down's syndrome will now be allowed to stay in Australia.

The Federal Immigration Minister Chris Evans overturned his department's decision today. Senator Evans said Dr Bernhard Moeller's case was compelling, particularly because of the severe rural doctor shortage. And the case may lead to changes in the immigration system.

Senator Evans has announced that he's asked for a review of the way the department handles applications for permanent residency from people with a disability.

http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2008/s2430636.htm

[Matilda]

31. Even now, the bureaucrats are as petty-minded as ever.

It's going to take time to change the Howard culture that grew over
eleven years, but with more pollies like Senator Evans, let's hope it
can be done.

I can't bring myself to watch the series "The Howard Years" - I don't
doubt it's well-presented, in the best traditions of the ABC, but I find
I just don't want to go there again. Not yet - the memories of the dark
ugliness that was taking over the country are still too fresh.