Rand Paul goes after health institutions that refused critical care to unvaxxed patients

Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky introduced new legislation on Tuesday that would prevent health care facilities that denied critical care to unvaccinated patients from receiving taxpayer dollars, Fox News Digital reported.

The proposed bill, "The COVID-19 Vaccination Non-Discrimination Act," seeks to hold health care institutions accountable by blocking federal funding.

"I'm leading the charge to hold taxpayer-funded health institutions accountable for denying unvaccinated people critical care," Paul wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.

Paul told Fox News Digital, "No American should be denied access to critical care based on a personal medical decision, yet tragically, many hospitals and other medical facilities continue to discriminate against those unvaccinated for COVID-19."

"The COVID-19 Vaccination Non-Discrimination Act will protect the rights of vulnerable patients to make their own health care choices and ensure that federal taxpayer dollars do not support facilities that turn away patients based on their COVID-19 vaccination status," he added.

Republican Rep. Dan Bishop of North Carolina, who introduced the legislation in the House, called the withholding of critical health care based on vaccine status an "injustice."

"There's no reason that medical facilities should deny care to people based on their COVID-19 vaccination status, and there's certainly no reason for institutions that do so to receive any federal funding," Bishop stated.

There have been reported cases of health care facilities denying care to the unvaccinated, despite the American Medical Association instructing medical professionals to provide care to all patients regardless of vaccine status, according to Paul's office.

Duke University Hospital was recently accused of denying Yulia Hicks, a 14-year-old girl from Ukraine, a kidney transplant because she had not received any COVID vaccinations.

In December, Yulia's adoptive mother, Chrissy Hicks, told Fox News Digital, "I said, 'So basically you're telling us if she does not get the vaccine, then she's not getting a transplant.'"

"And [the medical employee] said, 'Yes, that is the one thing that is holding us up,'" Hicks stated.

Health officials at Duke University Hospital refused to comment on Hicks' case but said, "Our hearts go out to all families coping with the serious illness of a loved one." Officials added that the health care system is "committed to making organ transplant accessible to as many eligible patients as possible."

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