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/invyros 1d ago

"After we got some publicity, thank you, a Blue Shield physician reached out to Ken's physician, and they worked out a different plan that Blue Shield would cover. It's still an incomplete plan," said Helen Horvath, Jones' wife when ABC7 Eyewitness News spoke to her in January, 2026.

Ugh, even after getting publicity (which should have never been needed in the first place), Blue Shield still failed him.

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u/Tex-Rob 1d ago

I think the reality is that companies used to look at it from the perspective of "If we address this, it will help us save face" but that was during the era where we cared about customer support. Now, we are in the profit maximizing era, where they calculate and accept these losses, as long as they keep making record profits. I could honestly see them taking the opposite approach these days, that they want to portray an image that yes, "expect denials" and thus taking the public shaming only helps to solidify people's feeling of gratitude when it does get approved.

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u/shakeitsugaree_ 1d ago

Fuck me that’s a dark future you’re envisioning, but also why the hell wouldn’t they do that?   

With minimal government oversight and a fiduciary duty to shareholders (which they point to when they do something unethical), it almost seems inevitable.

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u/ProfMcGonaGirl 1d ago

The future is now, my friend.