Her Insurer Denied Cancer Treatment—Until She Emailed the CEO
My Health Insurance Denied My Cancer Treatment. I Emailed the CEO
A 36-year-old breast cancer patient was denied a milder chemotherapy by her insurer, which insisted on the standard, more brutal Taxol. After multiple failed appeals, she emailed the CEO, threatening to write about the denial. The next day, the company approved the treatment and apologized. She reflects on a system that values profit over people and the dehumanizing power of claim denials.
There is no justification, ever, for denying a sick person care.
- Molitor5901
It does help to be a journalist at a major magazine. Plebeians such as myself would be very lucky to get such a response.
- ericmcer
I always wondered if this was as simple as reforming the insurance companies, or if the entire healthcare industry needed to be reworked.
>> Medicare for All would prevent an estimated 68,000 unnecessary deaths a year.
Are there doctors and specialists with the necessary equipment just twiddling their thumbs, wanting to help people but the insurance companies refuse to pay so they just sit idle? Or is our healthcare limited by supply?
We might have to revisit a bunch of things like how doctors get trained/residency, what insurance should cover, public health around prevention, etc. rather than just saying "Give everyone everything".
- mortar