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Marine mom fights for daughter's life how to help INSURANCE ASSISTANCE After 30 years in the Marine Corps, Stafford County woman faces the fight of her life: trying to save her daughter from a rare form of cancer Date published: 6/22/2008
By CATHY DYSON Four years after she retired from the Marine Corps, Bessie Miller had to fight the same military she was a part of for three decades. TRICARE Prime, her military insurance, had refused to pay for a procedure for her daughter, Sloan Hunter. Hunter is 18 and suffers from a rare and aggressive form of cancer. Miller, 57, felt as if she and her daughter were getting "slapped in the face every time we turn around." After she gave the Marines 30 years of her life, she said, she expected its insurance to provide the care her daughter needed. When it didn't, Miller went to battle. She fought to get Hunter admitted to VCU Medical Center in Richmond, even though the hospital is not in TRICARE's network. Then she fought TRICARE when it refused to pay for a bone-marrow transplant for her daughter. By the time her claim reached the third and final level, Miller had contacted The Free Lance-Star and 1st District Rep. Rob Wittman, whose office lobbied for her. In addition, Miller called the hospital and insurance company regularly to confirm that each had the needed paperwork. TRICARE announced on Thursday that it would pay for Hunter's $110,000 operation. Officials said she qualified for care under a rare-disease regulation. "I guess just bugging all these people, not giving up, refusing to accept 'no' for an answer, made the difference," Miller said. "That's the only thing I can think of, and I am totally thrilled and happy." Miller hasn't said that often in recent months. She and her daughter, who live in a Stafford County townhouse, have had bad news since August 2007. That's when the two went to Mary Washington Hospital because Hunter, then 17, had pain, no appetite and lumps on her abdomen. In one afternoon, they learned Hunter had Stage 4 cancer, the most advanced level, and that it had spread to several organs. Hunter had chemotherapy in the fall and early spring, then surgery in April to remove her ovaries, her gall bladder and a third of her liver.
Date published: 6/22/2008
We've discovered that even when the insurance company
uses someone with an MD after their name, they still do not
know you, do not know the situation, and often are not an
appropriate specialist. They make medical decisions without
ever having seen the patient! I have to go to my doctor
even when I know my kid has an ear infection and needs
an antibiotic- and for good reason- I'm not an MD. Why
does these people get to make decisions without
examination?
And the worst thing is these decisions are being made by medically illiterate pencil pushing bean counters. And the people in charge, making the decisions are the ones that profit $$$$ from all the care they deny! The innocent ones suffer, and the insurance companies don’t care.
Unfortunately, things like this happen all of the time, and not everyone is as lucky as Mrs. Miller. Insurance companies have the power to deny medical treatment to people based on technicalities, and there are no regulations preventing them from doing so. Something needs to happen...and soon.
And exactly the kind of thing I was talking about in my posts on “Bush supporters, opt out of voting”. Tricare is the insurance that is given to our Armed Services members and their families, (I was a family member for most of my life) and absolutely the biggest nightmare of them all to have to deal with. A fine way to treat those who put their lives on the line for us all. Bessie & Sloan, hang in there darlins’ our hearts are with you both!
This is why the gov't needs to do something to step up to the plate so that US citizens are able to receive medical treatment. What if this mother didn't have insurance? Does that mean her child has to die now? Or does it just mean that she has to sell all of her possessions and declare banktruptcy for the life of her child? THERE IS A SERIOUS PROBLEM WITH OUT HEALTHCARE SYSTEM. Its not socialist or communistic to want enough healthcare so that you can live to see another day.
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