Headline of the Week Weak
Filed under: Headline of the Week
"Patient's Insurance Canceled Hours Before Life-Saving Brain Operation"
How horrible! CLICK HERE to read the article accompanying this headline.
Patient's Insurance Canceled Hours Before Life-Saving Brain Operation
A 19-year-old Tampa Bay, Fla., woman is suffering from a debilitating brain disorder that may kill her after an insurance company canceled the family's medical coverage just before she was due to receive life-saving brain surgery, Tampa Bay’s 10 News reported.
Caitlin Jackson recently was diagnosed with the disorder Chiari malformation, which causes her excruciating headaches and fainting spells. The condition eventually destroys motor skills and memory.
"I constantly have to have somebody around me," Jackson told Tampa Bay’s 10 News. "I can't even stay at home for five minutes."
She was hours from getting the necessary surgery for her condition when her insurance company, Aetna, waited too long to approve the operation, giving the green light 15 minutes too late. By the time it sent approval, Jackson had lost the operating room to another patient and her surgery had to be rescheduled.
But Aetna then told Jackson it would not cover the surgery at all, saying her benefits had run out and leaving her to cover the $113,000 surgery.
Jackson told Tampa Bay’s 10 News that while her family is in talks with lawyers about appealing the insurance company's decision and while Aetna reviews her case, she has put her life on hold.
"I just have told myself. I have to get through this. I have to pray my way through it," Jackson told Tampa Bay’s 10 News.
You realize that in the UK and Canada, stuff like this also happens except the party denying insurance is the government in stead of some "evil" insurance company.
Univerisal Health Care is not all that great
This is so much more than wrong, so much more than sad: this is flat-out evil. What kind of horrible corporation does this? What kind of horrible country votes again and again and again *against* legislation and candidates that would provide healthcare for its fellow human beings? What kind of so-called people of God are willing for this to happen to their brothers and sisters? What kind of greedy, soulless, money-hungry people are we??? We Americans should be utterly ashamed of ourselves.
I live in Tampa and this hits too close to home. IT COULD HAPPEN TO ANY ONE OF US. The insurance companies are out-of-control. They have all the power, not the patients nor doctors. Things need to change in this country! This should never have happened!
.
I hope the family wins its appeal against Aetna. These insurance companies need to step up and take responsibility. Shouldn't they have to take the Hippocratic Oath? They act like they're doctors, so they should behave like doctors, not have people's lives hanging in the balance!!!
.
The health insurance problem in North America is a mess and needs to change, permanently. Insurance companies are playing with people's lives and this has got to stop.
Re: Amand – Amand, you're a real prince. So she'd gone through her insurance benefits already, huh? Well, golly then it's perfectly reasonable to just let her die. I mean, really, what's wrong with putting a price on a human life? If it's too expensive to keep someone alive, we should just let them die. Oh, Amand, I so look forward to the day when this happens to you or someone you love. And it will.
We can thank Republican president Nixon for changing the health care system to making it for-profit and for the insurance companies' benefit. Now it seems we're stuck with it in the U.S.A.
.
It's true, for those who don't live here. People lose their homes to pay for their medical bills. That is the biggest cause of bankruptcy in the United States; medical bills.
.
I don't think the Republicans will go for Universal Health Care because they perceive it as some sort of communist plot when in reality it is quite necessary.
*
I also think we need some guidance on which country to model our program after. Some countries seem to have better universal health care than others.
Re: NICOL – NICOLE, SINCE YOU ARE BITCHING SO MUCH ABOUT OTHERS' SPELLING, PLEASE NOTE THAT "YOUR TALKING SHIZ" SHOULD BE "YOU'RE TALKING SHIZ."
It's "YOU ARE" WHICH IS 'YOU'RE" - the apostrophe stands for the missing letter "A". "Your" is possessive, such as "your car." "You're" is the abbreviation of "you are."
If it's true that this girl is now having the operation because Fox News called the governor of Florida and Aetna, all I can say is this poor girl was lucky, but hundreds of thousands more are not so lucky. In the normal course of events, this girl's insurance would be canceled and most can't fight back. I guess Fox News shamed them into doing what's right, but they aren't going to do this every time. Insurance companies can't be trusted. If you are too young to have your own health insurance, or if you have no health problems, you don't know what I'm talking about. It's a very scary situation. Obama wants a universal health plan; McCain does not. Please vote for Obama!!
Re: canad – IT'S CALLED HEALTH CARE.
WHY CAN'T YOU YANKS GET THAT THROUGH YOUR FUCKING HEADS?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TO THE IDIOT WHO WROTE THE ABOVE:
.
IT ISN'T THE FAULT OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. Congress is crooked, no matter whom we elect. There are lobbyists for health care and the pharmaceutical and insurance industries. Trying to get universal health care in this country is going to be an uphill battle. Plus, our country is extremely broke right now, so naturally even if it could get passed, which I doubt because Congress will likely shoot it down, people would still be suspicious of how it would be financed. Yet they don't seem to be concerned at all with how much we are spending on the Iraq War.
I imagine the only reason that the governor of Florida interfered is because Gov. Jeb Bush is a Republican and since there is a national presidential election approaching, this has become a political matter. He almost HAD to interfere. Had he not, it would have left him, McCain, and the Republican party open to criticism from Barack Obama. So don't be too pleased that they interfered. They only did it because of the election.
Re: Jules – Jules, if you work in medical insurance, it would be nice if you could create a coherent paragraph with punctuation and correct spelling. You start off with a run-on sentence.
.
"It's sad" is correct, not "its sad." "It's" = "IT IS" The apostrophe in "it's" stands for the missing letter "i" which means "it is."
.
The plural of companies is "companies," NOT "companys."
.
"THERE INSURANCE" SHOULD BE "THEIR INSURANCE." "Their" is POSSESSIVE. "There" is a place, such as "over there" or used as "there is."
.
Please use apostrophes in words such as "that's (that is), "don't" (do not), etc.
.
"Payed for my surgery" should be "PAID for my surgery."
.
If you're working for a health insurance company and you're sitting there denying and approving procedures for people's lives and you can't even spell, plus you are PAID MORE to DENY CLAIMS, I can't trust you at all.
Sorry, I meant Gov. Charlie Crist is a Republican! Too early in the a.m.; not enough coffee.
this is one of the few UNIFYING issues that should be bringing repubs and dems together!
It's a HUMAN issue , not a political issue , put the mutual hatred to one side for a moment and demand what's rightfully YOURS FFS. UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE.
Your Government is letting you down - and thus letting countless American republican and democratic - die needlessly, your health care system sounds like a silent evil holocaust!
America has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the developed world ffs , beaten only by Latvia!
WAKE UP AMERICA.
Health care and your right to medical assistance should not hinge on an elitist system that determines your HUMAN RIGHT to medical treatment on the basis of corrupt insurance companies whose primary goal is a PROFIT MARGINS They do not have your best interests in mind ffs.
That's why the USA blows chunks. Canada has the best medical out there and you are NEVER waiting for insurance. As a country we take care of one another. What a bunch of shit you American's go through. I feel for all of you who are dying and made to feel even worse about not being healthy.
Re: Gary – Rubbish! If that happened in the UK or Canada there'd be a fucking uproar. That insurance company is beyond monstrously evil - how many undocumented cases exist (y'know the ones that didn't garner media attention like this one) were they've intentionally (like in this instance) sat idly by and wavered on "green lighting" a life saving treatment in the hope the patient would die before they'd have to make good on their "duty of care” and save them the "expense" i wonder?
To those kind people who are concerned and who do not live in the U.S.:
.
Unfortunately, it is a political issue, because Republicans do not want universal health care and Democrats do. Those who are voting for McCain in the upcoming general election will be voting against universal health care, and those voting for Obama will be voting for it.
.
So yes, it is a political issue. I wish it weren't, but there you have it.
This is exactly why insurance comapnies must be regulated. They should be treated like utilities. The law needs to be re-written to protect patients such as this poor young woman. Insurance companies should not be able to muck with a patients care just to save a few dollars. Hopefully they have good lawyers.
this story was shown on fox and friends and they raised enough money to have the girls surgery paid for!!
Re: Steel – That's probably one of the things i find most shocking about the American health care system - the complete absence of an impartial agency that holds these companies accountable when terrible things like the above happen. If you don't want universal health care at the very least you should be perhaps lobbying your government for a regulator that has sufficient clout to hold this companies culpable in clear cases of willful negligence like this - be it through hefty fines our the threat of losing their licenses to be health care insurance providers altogether - if there's a dossier of behavior cataloged like above. And maybe a ratings system based on their record of patient care so consumers could make informed decision if they want to entrust the responsibility of their health care to a particular company.
.
There needs to be reform of some sort, i'm not American but I think it's awful you guys are essentially at the mercy of these corporations for something as necessary as health care.
-james-
Don't hold you breath Aetna will pay. They SUCK ASS. One of their doctors left a medical tool in my body. I had to have 7 huge ass surgeries to fix the problem and Aetna paid….are you ready for this…$74.00!!! SEVENTY FOUR FUCKING DOLLARS. Their reason? They say they are not responsible for a doctors malpractice..if I want my money back I need to sue the doctor. Fucking HORRIBLE insurance co.
Re: Steel – That's probably one of the things i find most shocking about the American health care system - the complete absence of an impartial agency that holds these companies accountable when terrible things like the above happen. If you don't want universal health care at the very least you should be perhaps lobbying your government for a regulator that has sufficient clout to hold this companies culpable in clear cases of willful negligence like this - be it through hefty fines *or the threat of losing their licenses to be health care insurance providers altogether - if there's a dossier of behavior cataloged like above. And maybe a ratings system based on their record of patient care so consumers could make informed decision if they want to entrust the responsibility of their health care to a particular company.
.
There needs to be reform of some sort, i'm not American but I think it's awful you guys are essentially at the mercy of these corporations for something as necessary as health care.
-james-
Insurance companies are GREEDY BASTARDS! They are ruining healthcare for everyone. They drive up the cost, but don't want to pay out to anyone (doctors and especially not patients!!).
In France the doctors get bonuses for the more people they can make healthy. In America the people that work for health insurance companies get bonuses the more they can find a way to deny coverage. So basically America awards people for ultimately killing someone else, and France awards people for saving people. Hmmm yeah America is sure the best country!
To anyone that's afraid of waiting forever in an ER because of someone with a sore throat: wouldn't that person with a sore throat be able to see their primary care physician since they now have insurance? Hasn't anyone heard of triage? When I was seizing and barely concious, I got into the hospital right away. Hospitals don't treat people first come first serve. They follow certain rules. People with potentially life threatening issues are seen first.
P.S. I have amazing insurance and I sure as hell can't see the doctors I want to see…if they are in network, there's always some other issue, like they're not preferred.
All you people bitching need to get a clue. It's the uneducated ones that make the biggest scene.
I'm so glad I don't live in America. I have thyroid problems and here in Italy I never had to pay anything for my medicines and when I will have surgery it will be absolutely free.
Americans have been brainwashed by greedy politicians into thinking that socialized health care will be like hell on earth.
why would any family let their insurance policy lapse/run out when one of their children need such important operation to substain life? I would have beg borrowed or stole to pay the insurance premium.
Re: Amand – geezus , you sound like one misanthropic ignorant cunt whom ever you are. FYI to carry off the affronted “educated person” routine convincingly you need to demonstrate a modicum of intelligence yourself, first. fool..
That's horrible!! this just proves it! america is full of idiots!! yh and thank the lord for the NHS
i won't even go into how disgusted this country makes me when it comes to healthcare. th sad thing is it will never change because nobody does anything about it.
Re: Amand – i don't understand, what are you alluding to when you say "scene"?
Anyway terrible predicament , one faced by thousands if not millions in America sadly.
WE HAVE TO ALL STOP THIS HEALTH INSUR. BULL… THE GOVERMENT IS NOT DOING ANYTHING ABOUT IT BECAUSE THEY GET BIG $$$$ FROM INS. COMPANIES. IS REALLY SAY WHAT HAPPEDEN TO THIS GIRL BUT IT WILL BE MORE SAD IF THAT HAPPEDEN TO OUR KIDS.
INSURANCE COMPANIES AND GOVERMENT TOGETHER FOR THEIR OWN BENEFIT.
IN FRANCE SHE WOULDN'T HAVE PAID FOR BRAIN SURGERY. VERY SERIOUS HEALTH TREATMENTS & SURGERY (CANCER, ETC…) ARE FREE (BUT WE ALL PAY A LOT OF TAXES TO FINANCE OUR SOCIAL SECURITY).
My daughter has chiari malformation…I cannot imagine this happening to her. Aetna is a horrible insurance company
WTF, I am back bitcheeeeeeeees!!
Just like these damn insurance companies today to screw you over after you have paid all of this money. These bastards have done this many times. Just search and you shall find many people screwed by health insurance. Anyone of us could be next.
I'm not American , I once watched an episode of e.r. with a storyline that involved a father with a son that was diagnosed as having insulin Dependant diabetes - he had no insurance so the dr took pity on him and ended up having to steal insulin from the hospital so the child wouldn't go into hyperglycemic coma and die- if that's how things are that's unforgivably horrific. you're country doesn't even make provision for that , your health system would deny a child / adult insulin and let them die?
this is sick, vote for someone that would create universal health care!
Re: ilove – Pft - those "show pieces" you're talking about aren't included within the general reality of an average Americans health care experience. As for centers of medical excellence - there are countless examples of those within the many universal systems that exist that are accessible by all and not just the wealthiest.. or a few probono cases they take on just so they don't look like the exclusionary scum they are. Palezz , if anyones "off base" it's you.
idiot.
Only in America….
THIS IS OLD NEWS PEREZ……FOX NEWS HAD THIS ON IT'S MORNING SHOW LAST WEEK ( THANK YOU FOX )….THANKS TO THE SHOW SHE IS NOW HAVING THE SURGERY IF NOT ALL READ HAD IT!!!!!!!!GO FOX NEWS!!!!!!!
AND THERE YOU HAVE IT!!!!!!
Aetna. Fucking classic. Aetna sucks.
wait the fu*k up…..you mean to tell me you work hard day after day after damn day even working overtime a deduction is taken out of your check to health care in hopes one day it could be put to good use and then when that time comes, your Insurance company say they can't give you YOUR hard earn money that you accumulated for YEARS for a situation like this poor girl??!?!?! Just think what that S-Chip bill could have done if this jackass running this country hadn't vetoed it…….TWICE!!!!!
FUCK MEDICARE
FUCK THIS COUNTRY!!
Shit like this makes me feel disgusted to be an American. I bet Sacagawea and the rest of the Native Americans of her time wished they kept their mouth shut about THEIR lands.
Re: old n – You've missed the point of the story entirely - it goes far beyond just this and what happened to that poor girl. I'm tempted to say.."but then , what can be expected from a fox news viewer…" but I won't. I don't think even the average fox news viewer could be so oblivious as not to see this is only one instance of something that is sadly widespread and in the majority of cases, unreported.
Why hasn't thew family applied for Medicaid coverage-if she has a life threatening condition she should be able to apply for assistance
Screw Aetna. I just sent them an email at aetna.com . I encourage others to voice their disgust with this crooked company. They should not exist at all.
aetna.com — go to comments section and say it there
She should go to Thailand for the operation. The medical care is great and one 10th the price, don't die for the satates, gio abroad asap!!
My 2 year old daughter has a variation of this disorder and had 5 sugeries by the time she was 9 months old. I am continuosly fighting insurance companies for not paying for things that they themselves even pre approved. This girl NEEDS the surgery and who can afford $113,000?
there is a special place in hell for assholes like that. I hope that lady gets her surgery before anything horrible happens.
This is disgusting. I'm Canadian, but I'd be ashamed to be an American.
Re: james – Daymn , exactly. Trust a brit (I'm assuming) to be one of the only ones speaking sense. We need transparency and a regulatory agency on OUR side advocating the rights of premium payers who also have the authority to take these creeps to task when they play dirty like this. I'm for Universal Health care too.. it aint gonna happen over night - in the mean time - what james suggested.
It's time to get our health system and these big insurance companies under control,whats the point of having health insurance if the b******s don't cover anything,premiums keep going up and you have to fight them on everything.It's time to kick them to the curb.
I WENT TO THE DOCTOR FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A COUPLE OF YEARS AND WAS DIAGNOSED WITH TWO ISSUES AND MY INSURANCE DIDN'T EVEN COVER MY DOCTOR VISIT WHICH WAS $400. WHEN I CALLED ABOUT THIS I WAS TOLD THAT BLUE CROSS BULE SHIELD DOESN'T COVER CHECK UPS, CAN YOU FUCKING BELIEVE IT? AND HOW CAN A 10 MINUTE DOCTOR'S VISIT COST $400? WHEN I GET MEDICAL BILLS IN THE MAIL NOW I JUST PILE THEM UP FOR THE BBQ GRILL, FUCK UM
that's disgusting. fuck aetna, im leaving them as soon as possible.
WTFF - WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK!
I worked for Aetna for 12 horrible years. I had their coverage too which sucked ass and cost a small fortune. They gave me a hard time about paying for my daughter's in patient hospital stay when she was 12 years old and had a seizure due to an allergic reaction to medicine. I saw someone's post that this girl is getting her surgery now=hope it's true.
Um, this article was written to be so overly dramatic (though I agree aetna is run by dickheads, both because of this and also because of other decisions!)
I had surgery to correct a chiari malformation last november, and while it does cause severe headaches and can cause some motor problems (by way of forming syrinxes in the spinal cord) it isn't life-threatening, and it certainly isn't something that means she has to be watched 24-hours a day! It sucks, but she will survive just fine until her lawyers can force the insurance to cover the surgery.
Oh, and $113K? That's also bullshit, unless she's going to a completely horrendously overcharging doctor - I had my surgery done by one of the world's best-known chiari surgeons and stayed in the hospital longer than most of his patients and the full amount charged to my insurance company was just under $40K (though my insurance company only had to pay $30K because of the negotiations with the hospital and surgeon).
that's awful. i hope everything works out for her.
Re: Jess – you slander this girl after what her shitty insurance company just pulled ? pfft.. wouldn't it be terrible if you were in her position and had to go through what she did with the added stress of that? universal health care now. Too many greedy negligent insurance companies
THE LAND OF THE FREE!!!…HAHAHAHA, isn`t it the best fucking country in the world ?! …we hear and see americans say on tv everytime, they`re so full of themselves, patriotic dumb-asses. I say they are ignorant, loud and obnoxious, fat, ugly and talk crap all the time. So keep thinking the universe evolves around the USA…HAHAHAHa. Greeetings .Boy from the real land of the free, Holland. Europe.
Re: Miste – you're just as bad as those flag waveing "fat" "ugly""stupid" americans you seem to delight in putting down. We know our country is shit and out government is shit - we want change.. the irony of your comment is quite humorous btw.. hahahaha. UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE NOW . I'll be voteing obama ! that maccain fosil can eat shit.
thats fucking ridiculous….a person's life is on the line and all of a sudden they're saying her insurance is cancelled. i hope it happens to Aetna's family member maybe then they'll re-think what they did!!
Re: Amand – You are selfish! First off I have health insurance and I don't get to pick whatever Dr. I want. I have to use someone in my network like every other ins. co. out there. You are an idiot! Not to mention who cares if she has recieved 1 mil. in treatment! She did not ask to be born with this condition. My 2 yr. old has a similar condition and with all the surgeries she has had has already reaached 1 mil. at 1 year old!!! Does that sound fair to you? You talk to me when you have a 2 yr. old about to die (bc of something she was born with and is innocent in all this) bc she has already reached her max. benefit. On top of it I have already paid or am paying over $20,000.00 to dr. and hospitals out of pocket and that does not include premiums that equal anothe $12,000.00. How many people have that kind of money sitting around every year to pay for health care? But I guess in your eyes my little girl should be left to die since my husband and I don't make enough money to pay big bills like that and too much to qualify for medicaid. Oh and by the way my husband works 3 jobs to try and pay for all of this. Just remember Karma is bitch!
Re: rozza – Yes they would. The care is decided between the Dr, and the patient. Right now our care is decided by the insurance company and whether or not they want to pay rather than if it is medically necessary. Believe it or not you get more options with a universal health care.
Re: Ren – THANK YOU!!!!
Aetna SUCKS! I just opened my own business & will NEVER offer Aetna to my employees. Period!
Re: Gary – Do you know this bc you have personally experienced it or are you just saying this bc it's what you heard on the news or from some jaded newspaper? I am truly curious.
Sad story.
Vickey:]
Hey armand ……i hope your insurance runs out just as they are about to attach your colostmy bag.
Re: jules – complete crap. I'm in & from the UK and NOTHING and I mean !NOTHING! like that has EVER happened. You may have to wait a few weeks or months for minor procedures to be preformed - but for critical stuff you're fast tracked and receive !IMMEDIATE! treatment. Despite the lip service your insurance companies pay to people receiving mediate hospital treatment in every scenario , i find that hard to believe given the above mentioned "green lighting" stale tactics they employ.
Re: erin –
Complete crap. I'm in & from the UK and NOTHING and I mean !NOTHING! like that has EVER happened. No one has ever been denied treatment like that here.
You may have to wait a few weeks or months for minor procedures to be preformed - but for critical stuff you're fast tracked and receive !IMMEDIATE! treatment. Despite the lip service your insurance companies pay to people receiving immediate attention in every scenario , i find that difficult to believe given the above mentioned "green lighting" *stall tactics they pull.
God Bless America….and your healthcare sucks ass. WTF …even in communist countries they will treat the sick. America has lost it.
The reason other countries have better health care and everything else, is because the citizens forced their gov. to listen to them. they marched in the streets, picketed, sitins , protested, and their gov. were froced to listen and act. In America we're to lazy to comfront our gov. headon and they know it. all we do is sit on our asses and complain on the internet, then all is forgotten and thats what they're countin on, they know us well enough to know what they can get away with. In other countries the citizen runs their gov., here the gov. runs us.
i hope obama can help this shitty health system get fixed. how can those companies live with themselves? i hope mccain does not win. we need better health!
this is why the american healthcare system is crap
Re: thats – and hence why you pay high taxes, wait 6 months for your first check up and up to 2 years to get surgery. Or you come down to florida or any part of the US, waive and INSURANCE CARD, then get the surgery leave, and then dont pay shit, and then leave people like my dad screwed cause your to cheap to pay your MotherFcuking bills. FCUK Canada, fcuking maple leafs
Nobody has to tell us American's that our healthcare systems sucks! What, you want all of us to move into your country??? Didn't think so!
Are most Americans really happy with their privatised system?
Also , If what I've read in this comments section is true , these companies aren't regulated on a government level in any way?
.
Is obama pledging to reform health care in any way if he wins the presidency position?
Re: Lauri – i think people are trying to motivate Americans (out of concern and shock at your health system situation) into taking action and getting a better deal from their government.
Re: Hans- – You're in for such a rude awakening if the things other American people are posting in this thread are true.
Re: a –
Name calling. The typical fall back for someone who's ill prepared to have an adult discussion. I'll overlook that and reiterate my statement that change begins with the individual. To put all the faith and hope to change a society on ONE individual is incorrect, one might even say "offbase".
In my experience in dealing with insurance companies, I cannot complain. My mother was sick with cancer for 2 years before she passed away. She spent every day either in the hospital or in a rehab facility. My father didn't have to pay a single penny for the care she received.
I realize this is my personal experience and that there are countless others who may have had a negative experience, but to say that universal healthcare is the solution is out of response to liberal media espousing only its benefits without any thoughts as to the long term costs. If someone has the power to take care of you, they also have the power to control you. Not something that I particularly want in America.
Sickening. What the hell is going on???
Re: ilove – Good! you had a positive experience - but doesn't it bother you that "countless others" have not?
You're one of those people that don't care if it doesn't effect them directly perhaps?.. Being permissive to something as overtly and gravely unconscionably unjust WILL bite you in the ass eventually.
Perhaps you'd stand idly by while someone drowned in a pool too..as it “doesn't effect you directly” either? pft - get your head out of your butt and wake up.
Re: ilove – hahaha -you're already so obviously controlled and kept down by your government - you might as well demand universal health care to be compensated in some way for that fact.
~dion
I HATE Aetna. They have the worst doctors and go back on their word ALL THE FREAKING TIME!!!!!!!! I'm sooooooooo glad we switched to another company!!! This poor woman… I hate stories like this. Hopefully, somebody will step up with enough money to help out with the cost. I sure wish I did. I'd help her, and my friend with brain cancer as well. She was kicked off insurance by her exish-hubby. I hate these stories. Why can't life be better? Why can't the USA be like Canada and do free health insurance?????
Fucking Bitches!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i had the same condition and had surgery when i was 11 in 1998. i can't imagine my life if not having that corrected, or even if i would still be alive today. it is completely heart breaking that someone would be denied an operation where their life is on the line. i wish her the best of luck.
I just wanted to point out that with her $113,000 bill this might be the percentage she is responsible for (15% in my case) of the surgery; I would be curious to see the total cost of this surgery when we see that bill and are stunned.
Also, almost all insurance companies have a lifetime maximum benefit paid, and she might have reached that, hence her having the bill.
I wonder too how long Aetna had her request for this surgery… usually the turn around time on a request for this is a bit longer than a day or week as they do research into alternate possible treatments as well.
Finally, in the case of the friend with cancer the new job wouldn't cover. Most all insurances have a pre-existing clause that state this, be the situation be cancer or pregnancy. Most companies will cover care after a certain amount of time but not immediately.
I do hope the patient gets the care needed, but I also wanted to make the point of the media being able to spin stories sometimes in good or bad directions against a person or company.
Why don't you donate the money to help save this womans life. You should do something good for someone other than yourself and save this womans life.
This is why we need to VOTE FOR OBAMA!!!! Get a president in office who will DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS INSANITY!
medical insurance companies are WHORES!!!! that's all i have to say abotut that. let's hope this poor girl gets the surgery she needs!!!
Re: kmc – go fuck yourself
Re: cldia – I think a big part of the problem is that the a large of Americans don't seem to have a very accurate perception of what healthcare is around the world, which means they don't realise that universal healthcare doesn't equal 3rd world medical facilities and service. You see that in this thread to, people actually think you wouldn't be treated if you arrived at an ER with a life-threatening condition - of course you would! My parents both work in emergency services, government subsidised, and they would NEVER be told to turn someone away in that condition.
Ilove, you talk like having someone else in 'charge' of your healthcare is different to what you've got going now? The only difference is that instead of your elected officials, who can be voted out, in charge, you have private companies whose business profit is built off of denying claims. That's better?! And as I said earlier, a dual system where you have the choice to OPT for private healthcare, to allow you more freedoms, means it works for everyone. At the end of the day, the rest of the developed world has worked it out, from us in Australia to Finland. Join the crowd!
And my opinion does NOT come from 'liberal media' - I watch CNN and Fox, to hear what everyone has to say, and I don't live in the country!
another reason why this country has the worst healthcare system and so many people are without insurance..i would love to know how these people can sleep at night.
We need insurance like Russia, their government takes good care of them.
Re: Bad M –
well so it took a tv show and the governor to get her insurance ..well not everybody can contact fox news and plenty of people die from lack of proper medical care in the US and many many others spend their lives paying off debt from operation they had to have …… so shut the hell.. this isnt about liberal or conservatibe
I'm just reading through the comments and find it extremely *amusing* at how brain washed some Americans seem to be about universal systems. Firstly - You will always ALWAYS be able to see a dr in any case *regardless* of severity /medical complaint BUT especially so if it's an emergency !
They will even pay house visits if you happen to be too ill to go see them in their practice - what you may not get straight away however are fickle non life threating procedures.. like a toe nail scrapping or something. Hospitals and GP's are different things here - local gp surgeries(do you have those in the us?) are the places we go to if we have a medical concern like the flu / pregnancy tests / or to get prescriptions renewed . I can't claim to understand your system either – but it's not at all bad although it has it's faults – but NOTHING and I mean !NOTHING! Compared to the perniciously evil system you 're all presently unlucky enough to call “a health care system”.
And if you're unhappy with the universal system here , you have the option to opt into private health care - which is relatively niche here because the universal system does such a good job – even doing that will not effect your universal coverage . Quite honestly anyway , private health care here really only specializes in non essential things like cosmetic procedures
What people are not grasping is universal health care is neither free or substandard !
We have an excellent standard of medical care and no one is ever turned away or denied life saving treatment or left in limbo while insurance companies "green light" things. Just so americans are clear , We pay for our health care system though national insurance and tax.. it's a far superior system when it's ran at a human level and not by money grubbing bureaucratic parasites. But maybe America will need to see cases like this repeated again and again before the majority realise and the penny drops?
isn't it amazing how everyone wants socialized medicine but, it never happens!? I know I know.. your taxes will go up, right? Its about 40% in social medicine countries! here you THINK its about 28-30%? WRONG! by the time you add up what you're REALLY paying.. its 40% too! they just figured out how to get you guys to pay on both ends! How does it feel!? Oh and that bullshit Research and Development excuse!? Switzerland had that too.. when they switched to Social Medicine.. well Nothing's changed they are still top 10 in R&D !! If you look at the Historical Records of the best medicines created for Humanity.. there was NO money incentive!! Antibiotics for example, the man's name is Jona Saulk. He made no money!! he didn't care!! there are people who do things without the promise of a fortune!! lets pull our heads out of our asses and get Obama to pressure insurance companies to at least play fair ! and Ultimately to stop this gravy train for a small percentage of people and create fortunes for THEM while millions die and suffer!
Nice, fucking money hungry grubbers! I do hope that she's able to get that surgery, someone needs to put these damn insurance companies into check!
You pay the same in premiums to keep an unjust ineffective elitist private pernicious system afloat that citizens of countries were universal health care is the norm pay in tax for something ethical and better? Astounding.
Please get a clue America.
i used to have Aetna fuck themmmmmmmm where i work now i have UNited.. way better. insurance is a must.. as i moved employers had no money to go to a gastroentrologist to get a procedure and now of course more in pain.. its bs fuck the insurance companies. greedy bastards