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Did the Health Insurance Industry Help to Kill My Mom?
Delay. Deny. Defend. They sure tried.
When my mom’s surgeon came into the room, I could read his facial expression. It wasn’t going to be good news.
She was still in recovery when I found out. Stage 4 ovarian cancer. Shock, disbelief, and grief overtook my thoughts, along with the knowledge that I would be the one who had to tell her when she awakened.
At this point, both of my parents had cancer, and one was already edging closer to death. Within months, my father would succumb to his lung cancer leaving little funds for his underwhelming funeral in a particleboard casket.
I was in my twenties, still in college, and responsible for their care. Trying to figure out insurance issues was still new to me then.
Delay:
Mom’s health insurance first sent a notice that they did not intend to pay any claims related to her cancer diagnosis until they had determined if she had a pre-existing condition. They claimed that her hysterectomy done ten years prior might have been performed because she had ovarian cancer.
It was not. She had fibroid, uterine tumors that were resolved with a hysterectomy. Her surgeon left her ovaries intact, as was not an uncommon practice at the time.