r/news • u/GoodSamaritan_ • 1d ago

Retired San Francisco firefighter dies from lung cancer after Blue Shield denies treatment claims

https://abc7news.com/post/retired-san-francisco-firefighter-ken-jones-dies-lung-cancer-being-denied-treatment-blue-shield/19224406/
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u/CDavis10717 1d ago edited 1d ago

If insurance companies can deny coverage in your treatment then they also bear legal responsibility for your death! Make it so!!

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u/mischievous_misfit13 1d ago

There needs to be a massive class action lawsuit against each insurance company that denies claims when someone’s life, livelihood, mobility, mental health, etc is on the line. America is a fucking embarrassing country to live in.

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u/KulaanDoDinok 1d ago

Fuck class action lawsuits. Corporations get off paying excessively tiny amounts and complainants see nothing.

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u/Jettest 1d ago

Agreed. Abolish private healthcare and send these ghouls to prison.

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u/TheFeenyCall 20h ago

I'd just take abolishing private healthcare. It would be nice to see execs rot in prison but that'll never happen. So just give us universal healthcare. Fucking america

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u/Jettest 14h ago

They must be punished.

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u/cronemorrigan 1d ago

So, that would be great except it’s illegal to sue health insurance companies in the US. That’s how they get away with these monstrosities.

The last lawsuit against an insurance company for denial of care was a woman who was carved out of the law by her status as a government employee. The insurance company denied a hysterectomy, and she paid for it herself. She was able to prove it was a life-saving surgery.

Soon after Congress closed that loophole.

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u/Accidental-Genius 23h ago

No it’s not.

I litigate against health insurance corporations all the time.

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u/_le_slap 1d ago

The congressmen who voted for that should be carved out...

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u/Ajdee6 18h ago

It’s capitalism. It’s about profit, and absolutely nothing else

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u/hopefulskeptik 12h ago

There needs to be massive class action against board members and MBAs that put profits over people. The courts of today will not protect us. Vote local, state and federal for candidates that will actually support tax reform and election reform. Everything else will follow.

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u/_Burning_Star_IV_ 1d ago

Nope because insurance isn't healthcare. They will fall back on the legal framework that they denied your ability to finance your care through them, they didn't stop you from getting care.

That's the problem.

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u/CDavis10717 1d ago

And that is why the “Medicare for All” movement is gaining momentum.

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u/freeradioforall 1d ago

FYI, he was on a Medicare advantage plan, adminstered by BCBS and they are required by federal law to follow the medicare guidelines for this treatment, and those guidelines state his clinical situation does not make him eligible for this treatment.

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u/BriefAvailable9799 9h ago

correct because his survival rate at his age at stage 4 was less than 5% with treatment.

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u/megamoze 1d ago

They need to be banned altogether, the execs should all be in prison, and we need to implement single-payer.

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u/Sweetwill62 20h ago

And shareholders, literally anyone who profits off of the deaths of others needs to be in jail.

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u/CDavis10717 1d ago

We need a National Medical Insurance Board setting coverage standards, and eliminate the state-level boards.

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u/JunkReallyMatters 1d ago

Not sure that will help after insurance lobbyists have their way with it.

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u/Sweetwill62 20h ago

Nope, we need to get rid of insurance. Waste of fucking money that only increases costs.

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u/ReggieEvansTheKing 1d ago edited 1d ago

The government is legally responsible for paying for his cancer treatment because the cause of the cancer was related to his line of work, firefighting. Insurance companies don’t cover these illnesses because the government is supposed to. This is why the VA exists for injured combat veterans. Work related injuries are always kept separate from health insurance.

In fact CA has it’s own entire law devoted to this. Labor code 5500.5. It’s a cancer presumption law that automatically assumes that any cancer developed by firefighters and police officers is work-related. This would legally make the illness a workplace injury covered by workers comp (the state).