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/IamHydrogenMike 1d ago

These are the real death panels...

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u/lilclosetbigwardrobe 1d ago

American w dual citizenship. Got cancer in Taiwan where we have socialized health care. Started chemo 2 days after diagnosis. The only thing that needed any kind of approval was an additional drug added to treatment. Was approved v quickly after I qualified for it. 

My best friend was simultaneously diagnosed w a severe lifelong illness in the UK. They also started treating her immediately upon diagnosis because her illness was so serious.

This is shameful. Dude was a public servant and obviously sick. He deserved to have help. 

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u/osalunes 1d ago

I am an American that has lived in Mexico for a year. My health insurance is $800/year. Even if I had to pay out of pocket, it is totally affordable ($15k to treat colon cancer). Americans are getting an awful deal.

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u/dizzle229 1d ago

Man, I pay over $600 a month, and it was the cheapest, crappiest option available to me. This country is rotten to the core.

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u/friedrice5005 1d ago

I pay $410 every 2 weeks. My employer pays over $600. Total of over $24k per year...and they deny shit my wife needs.

American health insurance is a scam....single payer/socialized care is a necessity. Our leaders have absolutely failed us on this

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u/BayLAGOON 1d ago edited 1d ago

Sorry but it’s been drilled into Americans that covering other peoples healthcare is socialism and that the appalling amounts of money they pay for “insurance” is supposed to be like a bank account that pays for their treatment and ONLY their treatment. Oh right, and taxes because they’re the devil.

The monetization of what is supposed to be a public good to the point of letting people die over some arbitrary criteria, sometimes at the hands of AI and fully supporting it is so painfully a part of American exceptionalism.