Marine mom fights for daughter's life how to help INSURANCE ASSISTANCE
After 30 years in the Marine Corps, Stafford County woman faces the fight of her life: trying to save her daughter from a rare form of cancer
Date published: 6/22/2008
By CATHY DYSON
Four years after she retired from the Marine Corps, Bessie Miller had to fight the same military she was a part of for three decades.
TRICARE Prime, her military insurance, had refused to pay for a procedure for her daughter, Sloan Hunter. Hunter is 18 and suffers from a rare and aggressive form of cancer.
Miller, 57, felt as if she and her daughter were getting "slapped in the face every time we turn around." After she gave the Marines 30 years of her life, she said, she expected its insurance to provide the care her daughter needed.
When it didn't, Miller went to battle.
She fought to get Hunter admitted to VCU Medical Center in Richmond, even though the hospital is not in TRICARE's network.
Then she fought TRICARE when it refused to pay for a bone-marrow transplant for her daughter.
By the time her claim reached the third and final level, Miller had contacted The Free Lance-Star and 1st District Rep. Rob Wittman, whose office lobbied for her.
In addition, Miller called the hospital and insurance company regularly to confirm that each had the needed paperwork.
TRICARE announced on Thursday that it would pay for Hunter's $110,000 operation. Officials said she qualified for care under a rare-disease regulation.
"I guess just bugging all these people, not giving up, refusing to accept 'no' for an answer, made the difference," Miller said. "That's the only thing I can think of, and I am totally thrilled and happy."
Miller hasn't said that often in recent months. She and her daughter, who live in a Stafford County townhouse, have had bad news since August 2007.
That's when the two went to Mary Washington Hospital because Hunter, then 17, had pain, no appetite and lumps on her abdomen.
In one afternoon, they learned Hunter had Stage 4 cancer, the most advanced level, and that it had spread to several organs.
Hunter had chemotherapy in the fall and early spring, then surgery in April to remove her ovaries, her gall bladder and a third of her liver.
She was slated to receive eight cycles of high-dose chemotherapy, then have a bone-marrow transplant. The high levels of chemotherapy would wipe out her immune system, so Hunter's own marrow, which had been harvested in September, would be transplanted back into her body.
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INSURANCE ASSISTANCE
Residents who have general questions about insurance policies or need help filing appeals can get assistance from Virginia's Bureau of Insurance in Richmond.
The office is a division of the State Corporation Commission. It answers about 75 to 80 general questions a month about policies and helps another 15 to 20 consumers file formal appeals, said Tom Bridenstine, an ombudsman in the office.
The advice he gives most often is to not waste time on phone calls. If the first call to an insurance company doesn't resolve the issue, submit a written appeal.
"That's a lot better use of somebody's time than making phone call after phone call to different people and being put on hold forever," he said.
The Bureau of Insurance can be reached by phone at 877/310-6560 or by e-mail to ombudsman@scc.virginia.gov.
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how to help
Collection jars and a fund have been set up to help defray Sloan Hunter's medical costs.
Jars are at the Wawa stores on Butler Road and U.S. 17 in Stafford County, where Hunter and her mother work.
The Wawa on U.S. 17 also will have a yard sale, starting at 8 a.m. on July 12 and 13. For more information, contact Robin Stafford at 373-0571.
Hunter's classmates at Stafford High School raised $1,000 during the last two days of school. Her former history teacher, Sarah Jackson, wrote letters to get support from businesses.
"Sloan has an abundant amount of potential," she said. "She is not one of these people that we want to lose."
Donations can be sent to the Sloan S. Hunter Transplant Fund, c/o BB&T Bank, 760 Warrenton Road, Fredericksburg, Va. 22406.
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Date published: 6/22/2008
Most recent reader comments:
Not at MDs are alike
(posted by
Elloramom
, June 22, 2008 7:22 pm)
We've discovered that even when the insurance company
uses someone with an MD after their name, they still do not
know you, do not know the situation, and often are not an
appropriate specialist. They make medical decisions without
ever having seen the patient! I have to go to my doctor
even when I know my kid has an ear infection and needs
an antibiotic- and for good reason- I'm not an MD. Why
does these people get to make decisions without
examination?
Exactly right Cereyn
(posted by
msdaisy
, June 22, 2008 4:25 pm)
And the worst thing is these decisions are being made by medically illiterate pencil pushing bean counters. And the people in charge, making the decisions are the ones that profit $$$$ from all the care they deny! The innocent ones suffer, and the insurance companies don’t care.
I agree with dicerotops.
(posted by
Cereyn
, June 22, 2008 3:17 pm)
Unfortunately, things like this happen all of the time, and not everyone is as lucky as Mrs. Miller. Insurance companies have the power to deny medical treatment to people based on technicalities, and there are no regulations preventing them from doing so. Something needs to happen...and soon.
This is an outrage
(posted by
msdaisy
, June 22, 2008 3:03 pm)
And exactly the kind of thing I was talking about in my posts on “Bush supporters, opt out of voting”. Tricare is the insurance that is given to our Armed Services members and their families, (I was a family member for most of my life) and absolutely the biggest nightmare of them all to have to deal with. A fine way to treat those who put their lives on the line for us all. Bessie & Sloan, hang in there darlins’ our hearts are with you both!
Grrrrrrrrrr
(posted by
dicerotops
, June 22, 2008 12:53 pm)
This is why the gov't needs to do something to step up to the plate so that US citizens are able to receive medical treatment. What if this mother didn't have insurance? Does that mean her child has to die now? Or does it just mean that she has to sell all of her possessions and declare banktruptcy for the life of her child? THERE IS A SERIOUS PROBLEM WITH OUT HEALTHCARE SYSTEM. Its not socialist or communistic to want enough healthcare so that you can live to see another day.
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