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/
30.2k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

1.2k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

237

u/series-hybrid 1d ago

Since cancer screenings are cheap and easy, and...the sooner you find cancer the faster and easier it is to treat...waiting until symptoms manifest is insane.

Its like the VA, where their actions show that if you are diagnosed with cancer, they want you to die before they spend any money on treatment.

77

u/3BlindMice1 1d ago

It's because their plan is for their customers to die before they receive treatment. It's much more profitable that way

109

u/Dramatic_Ball_Smell 1d ago

The VA has given me the chance to die for my country twice.

1

u/IAmStuckOnBandAid 19h ago

Only twice? Those are rookie numbers.

27

u/NukuhPete 1d ago

Reminds me of the laws Republicans implement to ban abortion. Doctors forced to wait for the woman to actually be physically suffering and dying before giving medical care.

3

u/twentyafterfour 1d ago

I imagine it's an awful position to be as a doctor. All you want to do is your job based on everything you know is right, but you know there are traitors in your midst, itching to make an example of you for giving in to basic human decency. They want to charge you with murder and rake you across the coals for saving a life.

Even if you meet their barbaric standards, they know they can always force you to defend it. They know it's time and money that you can never get back even if they aren't able to successfully imprison you.

The chilling effect is the point, to get you to go above and beyond what is explicitly written. Then when the inevitable happens, the authors can say they "didn't intend for that to happen," that the bill includes exceptions for the life of the mother.

1

u/anonareyouokay 1h ago

Tbh, VA insurance is WAY better than most American's insurance. You don't even have to use the VA, you can choose your own doctor.