Hello supporters of girls’ rights. I’m gonna cut right to it: I have some sad news for you today. I hope you remember the amazing artist, Zoe Keating, whose song “Optimist” I used as the music for my video. About a month ago, Zoe’s husband Jeffrey was diagnosed with stage IV cancer. If that was not painful enough, his insurance provider, Anthem Blue Cross, denied him coverage, despite the fact that Zoe and Jeffrey have paid an estimated $100,000 in premiums since they became members in 2008. In Zoe’s own words:
“On May 13 an MRI found 20 tumors in my husbands brain. On May 15 he could barely breathe and was in a lot of pain. A CT scan that day revealed he had a softball-sized tumor in his lung, tumors in his other lung, his liver and possibly his bones. On our way home from the imaging center our primary care doc called and told us to turn around and get to the hospital right away. My husband was admitted and they promptly removed more than a pint of fluid from his lungs, which helped him breathe better. We were there for 6 days while they performed a bronchoscopy, did more scans, gave him drugs to stop his brain from swelling and administered emergency chemo.
“Today I got a letter from Anthem Blue Cross regarding his hospital stay:
“Coverage for the requested service is denied because the service does not meet the criteria for ‘medical necessity’ under your description of benefits. To assist our Medical Director in making this decision, we have put a process in place to send all information about the service to a clinical reviewer with appropriate credentials. Based on their opinion, we have determined that covered for the requested service is denied. Our Medical Reviewer Layma Jarjour MD has determined we cannot approve your hospital stay for cancer. We do not have enough facts to show that it was medically necessary.
“Anthem is owned by WellPoint. Did you know CEO Joseph Swedish earned almost $17 million during his first year on the job. Now you know how they can afford to pay him.”
Zoe recently created a link to donate on her website. She says, “I support my family 100% with my music and I've always been proud of that. But now is not the time for my pride to get in the way. We need help. So for those of you who feel inspired to help us get through this awful time, here is a donation button. I thank you with the deepest possible thanks.” I think it is incredibly brave of her to reach out to her supporters and ask for their, well, support. If any of you feel able, I would really encourage you to donate here.
“On May 13 an MRI found 20 tumors in my husbands brain. On May 15 he could barely breathe and was in a lot of pain. A CT scan that day revealed he had a softball-sized tumor in his lung, tumors in his other lung, his liver and possibly his bones. On our way home from the imaging center our primary care doc called and told us to turn around and get to the hospital right away. My husband was admitted and they promptly removed more than a pint of fluid from his lungs, which helped him breathe better. We were there for 6 days while they performed a bronchoscopy, did more scans, gave him drugs to stop his brain from swelling and administered emergency chemo.
“Today I got a letter from Anthem Blue Cross regarding his hospital stay:
“Coverage for the requested service is denied because the service does not meet the criteria for ‘medical necessity’ under your description of benefits. To assist our Medical Director in making this decision, we have put a process in place to send all information about the service to a clinical reviewer with appropriate credentials. Based on their opinion, we have determined that covered for the requested service is denied. Our Medical Reviewer Layma Jarjour MD has determined we cannot approve your hospital stay for cancer. We do not have enough facts to show that it was medically necessary.
“Anthem is owned by WellPoint. Did you know CEO Joseph Swedish earned almost $17 million during his first year on the job. Now you know how they can afford to pay him.”
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| Photo from womenwhokickass.tumblr.com |
Zoe posted an update that there seems to be some hope and a little progress made towards getting coverage, but she and Jeffrey should not be left in this state of uncertainty in this kind of severe situation.
Zoe recently created a link to donate on her website. She says, “I support my family 100% with my music and I've always been proud of that. But now is not the time for my pride to get in the way. We need help. So for those of you who feel inspired to help us get through this awful time, here is a donation button. I thank you with the deepest possible thanks.” I think it is incredibly brave of her to reach out to her supporters and ask for their, well, support. If any of you feel able, I would really encourage you to donate here.
Thank you for reading.
