Front Page Philly Inquirer, Christmas Day, RE: CIGNA:

[PCIntern]

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/home_top_left_story/20071225_Questions_over_role_of_insurer.html

Questions over role of insurer
Cigna Corp.'s initial refusal to pay for a teen's liver transplant has sparked protests.
By Stacey Burling

Inquirer Staff Writer

The much-publicized death of a 17-year-old California girl has put her insurance company, Philadelphia's Cigna Corp., in the national spotlight and again raised questions about the role insurers play in deciding the medical care Americans receive.
Nataline Sarkisyan died last week, less than an hour after Cigna reversed its decision and approved coverage for a liver transplant. Mark Geragos, her family's attorney, blames the insurance company for her death and plans to sue.

For its part, Cigna said yesterday that two independent experts had concluded that a transplant in this case "would not have been an effective or appropriate treatment."


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Good pic of the kid as well...

On this National Holiday, imagine all those picking up their papers having spent an inordinate amount of time preoccupied with getting their kids gifts and lavishing whatever that particular family can lavish upon the young, and seeing that CIGNA condemned that child to certain death.

My opinion,m FWIW, is that CIGNA 'finally' approved the transplant when someone from the inside said that the kid was a goner no matter what. Wouldn't surprise me in the least...

[VP505]

1. Should it really be

the role of an Insurance Company to decide if a treatment is "effective or appropriate"?

[PCIntern]

2. No, and what's really scary

is that these people are effectively rewarded for stating as such.


I'd love to see this stroy as the catalyst which ignites legislation but..

[VP505]

4. I agree, some legislation

might be in order, and that's a very big but, sadly we aren't talking anatomy, LOL.

[Yael]

3. They aren't making that call per se

they are stating whether or not they will pay for the procedure. The final call is the Doctor's and if the family was filthy rich, they could have gone through with it out of pocket.

2 Americas and all that...

[PCIntern]

5. You're right to a fair extent...

and they use that logic in their own defense - I'm a dentist and we get denials back which state that the patient is free to go thru with the procedure, the ins. co. won't pay for it - but that's only teeth...here they're saying that they're gonna shoot a bullet at your head and if you can catch it with your teeth, then you'll survive.

Long odds in anyone's book...

[nradisic]

6. Massive lawsuit....put them out of business...

Punitive damages of $1 billion and Cigna goes belly up....done!

[Toots]

7. We don't want no stinkin' bureaucrats deciding our health care

We have the best health care in the world....:shrug: