Someone needs to go to jail for this murder. And it ain't the docs.

8 and 9 figure net worth repubs don't have to see victims of their donor class insurance companies when they chant "socialized medicine" at people that want Single-payer health care

Site Monitor,

Since this updated story effectively kills the previous thread on the subject, which I just commented upon, might I copy my comment and post it here, since it's relevent? I won't make a habit of it.

[Sure. Go ahead-Sitemonitor]

Why aren't the SOBs charged with murder?

I wonder how the "for profit" health care advocates are going to spin this? "Let the market decide"? The system is broken, and even if you play by the rules and have health insurance you still can be denied care that will kill you.

if you go to cigna's web page you will notice that cigna bills itself as "a business of caring"

and, suprising no one, no where in their 'news' section is it mentioned that cigna denied Nataline coverage, that led to her death.

and, again, this is why ron paul's recipe for america is downright dangerous, and dennis kucinich is the only presidential candidate calling for an end to for-profit health care.

I can't remember who said this a few weeks ago when talking about health insurance, but the person said, "Health insurance companies are not in business to look after our health. They are in business to make money."

Sadly, that person is right. Just as car insurance people aren't in the business to see that we are safe behind the wheel. They are in the business to make money.

When a health insurance company can decide what sort of treatment their customers get, something is horribly horribly wrong.

Medical treatment should not be a gamble. It shouldn't be a game between the persuasive ability of the doctors and the insurance company to see if whether or not a life is saved.

...and somewhere a health insurance executive is planning a million dollar sweet sixteen party for his or her daughter.

Oh, but let’s not forget that Lispin’ Rudy Giuliani is OK today because of the insurance companies! No universal coverage for him - he's against it! Forget about the tragedy of a 17 year old losing her life due to corporate insurance incompetence - at least Rudy’s still around to exploit the deaths of 3,000+ in his vain attempt to hijack (all puns intended) the White House!

I hope her family sues their ass back to the stone-age It's the only thing those fuckheads understand

It would be very interesting to determine the person(s) who, at each stage of the determination that the operation was not justified, made the determination.

Was it a clerk, reading from a standard protocol of Cigna?

Anyone care to bet that it wasn't, at least at some stages of the determination?

Greetings from Canada where 40 years socialized medicine had
lead us down the slippery slope to the evils of communism.

Rub R. D'Key @ 8:

Why aren't the SOBs charged with murder?

Because at the end of the day, in America, the only crime that matters is getting in the way of someone's profit or bottom line.

This has been going on for a long time, the fact that it takes innocent people to die and an overweight film director to make a documentary about it to get people's attention says a lot about the level of inhumanity that this society has reached.

At the end of the day, people may make a stink about it, but nothing will change. Why? Because for the most part there are plenty of selfish assholes in this society that would rather put a white hot iron coal up their rectums, that contemplate the possibility of their hard earned money being used to help someone in need other than their immediate family or friends.

Cigna's and other health care providers are as guilty as the society which allowed a per-profit health care system to exist and be acceptable. Something that nowhere else in the industrialized world would have been even contemplated or tolerated. It speaks volumes about what our priorities are and frankly I am ashamed... $$$ is what matters at the end of the day. What is a few kids and old people have to die here and there... it is the god given right of a corporation to make $$$. We wouldn't want a socialist system, would we? It being godless and all...

The tragic thing is that most Americans associate socialism with something bad, even though they don't even know what socialism is or what it implies. Shame on our leaders for using such demagoguery...

Canuck @ 24:

Greetings from Canada where 40 years socialized medicine had
lead us down the slippery slope to the evils of communism.

You also have a lower standard of sexual morality. May Gawd have mercy on y'all...

Bush says we are losing doctors because of frivolous lawsuits. I suggest we may be losing some of them because they are sick of working at the command of insurance companies and just getting frustrated as hell.

I wish that the woman from ABC would show which Republican candidates are advocating anything more than more or the same for health care in the US. In reality, they don't even mention health care. They are oblivious to the health care crisis but outraged by illegal aliens working at low wage jobs.

The all-mighty dollar can turn people's hearts to stone.

One thing about the media for sure, in the discussion of "universal health care", they want to keep the term "single payer" out of the vernacular, in order to facilitate corporate welfare if universal healthcare should happen. Let's all do our parts to inject "single payer" into the discussion.

One way to do this is, during a debate, ask "During the 2002 campaign, Ross Perot said he would study the universal health care in the countries that have it and copy the system that worked the best. Is the fact that 29 out of the 30 countries who have universal health care operate under the single payer system the reason why you aren't taking this approach?".

Of course, that would have to be a debate hosted other than CNN.

I suppose the question is, for those candidates who endorse the corporate welfare version of universal health care (Obama, Clinton) is to ask "Why do you think that sitting down with industry lobbyists is going to produce a cost-effective health care system when the fiduciary duties of a private company is to maximize shareholder returns?"

I WANT
a mathematical formula so that everytime a "health" insurance company posts it's profits we can figure out how many procedures, surgeries, etc./ people were denied so that they could have that profit ...

and then we can post that number to our blogs

further I want another formula so that we can calculate the of those that were denied procedures, surgeries, etc. how many died because of it!

This is a friend of mine's blog - he is awaiting a liver transplant too
http://billybobswildride.blogspot.com/

(Billy Bob is what he named his liver)

Interestingly enough he took care of a friend and was with her when she died of end stage liver disease - before he was diagnosed with it too.

Here's that story
http://robertwalkingeagle.google...epages.com/ home

I don't care what the The Ron Paulogists (Ronnetts or Ron Paulettes) or CONS or neo-CONS think. Countries with single payer SOCIALIZED medicine their people are doing much better.

On 12/02/07 did a blog post on organ donation
"Do something great this holiday season, become an organ donor"

I am also an organ donor - I encourage everyone to be one.

(the current post on my blog about willingly burning an organ is not about transplants)

Look at the Health Insurance plans of all the dem candidates. There is only one that would have prevented this tragedy, the Single Payer Plan of Dennis Kucinich. The only way to stop this madness of some unaccountable, service denier from getting between a doctor and their patient is Single Payer. When was the last time you heard of a Medicare patient being denied a bypass? To bad Nataline had not lived out most of her life so that her insurance company was the People of America instead of a subsidiary of bushco murder inc.
If you want change support the only candidate who will make change, Dennis Kucinich!
Oh, and have you signed Wexler’s petition yet? Have you asked blogs you visit to make some noise about it? Impeachment is the road to a different future, one not owned by the CIGNA’s of this world.
.
http://www.wexlerwantshearings.com/

I don't see why Americans should be bothered with the term "socialized medicine". After all, they have fully embraced the fascistic-sounding "Department of Homeland Security". I'll take socialism anyday.

casper46 @ 41:

I understand these cretins are in this for the money, but really, how do they sleep at night?

On a bed that costs as much as my car.

Not letting Cigna off the hook for this at all, but I wonder if the policy was obtained through one of Nataline's [parents’] employers? If the employer has purchased the group policy as a benefit for their employees (even if the employees pay for it themselves) the employer can step in and tell the insurance company to F'n pay. Whenever our insurer has jerked us around, my husband just calls his benefits office and says, "Hey, WTF?" and his employer contacts the insurer to whip them in line. I'm only saying, Cigna may not be the only responsible party to this horrible tragedy.

I can't imagine what this family might be feeling. I am so sorry for them. I cannot find the words to express my sadness and anger.

[Edited-Sitemonitor]

I cannot remember not having universal healthcare and I'm over 50. Even though there are problems with wait lists for non critical procedures you would be hard pressed to find any Canadian who would prefer the U.S. system. My family has had procedures that would certainly have been over a million dollars in the states and the care has always been first rate.
When I hear the right wingers down there talk about "socialized" medicine I am incredulous. The richest nation on earth and they don't look after basic human rights. I'm very disappointed to hear Senator Clinton's plan includes the insurance companies. They are nothing but ruthless bloodsuckers. I'm convinced if the American people knew the truth about "socialized" heathcare there would be an uproar like that which has never been seen.

Ref 46 above, I meant to say "one of Nataline's parents' employers..." not one of Nataline's employers.

[FIFY-Sitemonitor]

Blame it on that stinking "socialist" Michael Moore who stirred up
all that trouble to begin with. The nurses and the doctors
stood up and this will happen again and again and MIKE will make
a follow-up sequel and OBama and Edwards will finally get
the message and the drooling, pacified, mortgaged-to-the-max public will
look up and try very hard to figure out what all the commotion is about.

In Sicko, when Michael Moore visits England, he speaks with a doctor who - get this - gets REWARDED based on how many patients he treats! The more people he treats, the healthier the people are, the more his bonus! I was amazed, and then I wanted to cry at being amazed at BASIC HUMAN COMPASSION. When Michael Moore asked the patients how much their treatment cost them, they just laughed. Could you imagine what it's like to find it amusing that a medical operation would cost you money?

I wonder just how far in the Dark Ages the US really is. I suspect it's far worse than we even realise.

Samson- @ 52:

universal, not-for-profit healthcare = christianized medicine

We should start calling it that. Ooooh that'll draw their ire!

Canuck Looking South @ 48:

I cannot remember not having universal healthcare and I'm over 50. Even though there are problems with wait lists for non critical procedures you would be hard pressed to find any Canadian who would prefer the U.S. system. My family has had procedures that would certainly have been over a million dollars in the states and the care has always been first rate.
When I hear the right wingers down there talk about "socialized" medicine I am incredulous. The richest nation on earth and they don't look after basic human rights. I'm very disappointed to hear Senator Clinton's plan includes the insurance companies. They are nothing but ruthless bloodsuckers. I'm convinced if the American people knew the truth about "socialized" heathcare there would be an uproar like that which has never been seen.

When you look at how much money the insurance and pharmeceutical industries spent to purchase HRC, you'll instantly understand why she is going to prositute her intended office including the insurance companies in her plan..

Canuck @ 24:

Greetings from Canada where 40 years socialized medicine had
lead us down the slippery slope to the evils of communism.

Couldn't have said it better. Wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

HEY..... where's all the Ron Paul people talking about all that freedom of choice thier saviour will bring them in health care...

Remember back in the 80's and early 90's when everyone was complaining about how the medical system should be run more like a business? This is what everyone wanted and now we have it. I hope you enjoy it. Insurance companies are running medicine now.

However, I have to point out that no one here knows the details of this situation. It may be that this patient would have died with or without that liver. A liver transplant is a huge operation and many people don't survive. She also may not have received a liver for sometime anyway, it takes a while for livers to become available. I have tried to find out details of this case, but the news reports I have come across are lacking.

Jesusturnedwaterboardingintowhine @ 9:

Put the liver in her body and sort out who pays for it later. There should have been someone at the hospital that pushed that angle. They should have a policy for such life-saving situations knowing full-well that the insurance companies suck.

Agreed...
It's funny how the hospital tries to pass off the blame to the insurance company by having its own doctors write in to support the transplant yet they don't have the will to actually do it and bill later. What about the doctors whose duty is to help? "Oh well, no one would pay - sorry"

Take a look at what Kucinich has to say about decriminalizing medical marajuana.

http://granitestaters.com/candidates/dennis_kucinich.html

We will never have a sane medical policy in this country until we take the profit and the police out of it.

The tagline on the Cigna website is "A Business of Caring."

But Bush's privatized medicine is so much better then socialized medicine because you have more options between you and your doctor. Now Nataline Sarkisyan has no health issues at all.

Just disgusting, well maybe (just maybe) this will give traction to the issue and something will happen, but I'm not holding my breath.

Why didn't the doctors at UCLA perform the transplant? For a life threatening case such as this, couldn't the doctors have done a pro bono operation and fight it with the insurance company afterward? Was there a liver transplant match even available for this girl? It's a tragic story, but to put all the blame on the insurance company is narrow minded and tabloid fodder.

Ahh fuck.
What can you say to this? A desperate young girl is dead, corporate money grubbers played god and decided her fate. WTF is wrong with people that this is our system? There is a crime commited here, and I don't give a shit about the fine print. There is a crime commited here, if not by Cigna, then by our current greed driven health care system. Life and death decisions are going to be made here by a profit driven corporation?!? The profit driven corporation is going to have the authority to play the hand of god and decide who lives and who dies?? Not cool. Not cool. Republicans want to talk about being civilized but they want to act on being barbaric. What is civilized about letting a person die when we have the means to prevent it??? Where is the civility and culture of life in that? Because her insurance plan wasn't good enough?!? Give me a fucking break, man. Really. Where are the Terry Sciavo zealots on this one?

I'm sure Comrade Edwards will be talking about this

Please, read the article from yesterday.

"Nataline Sarkisyan, 17, of Northridge is in the intensive care unit at UCLA Medical Center in Westwood, and her mother says she has been in a vegetative state for three weeks. "

Now, I'm all for bashing the CIGNA for this, but if she really was in a vegetative state, aka no chance of coming back, then a transplant would indeed be a waste of resources. Give the liver to someone who will live and recover. It sucks, but that's the better choice.

Now, this is all based on what are still flimsy details at this point. If she wasn't in a true vegetative state (aka, she'll recover), or she was in a coma because of the lack of a liver, a liver that was denied 3 weeks ago before the 'vegitative state', then by all means, CIGNA needs bashing.

Clytemnestra @ 61:

Two months??? you got off easy, we waited 7 months to see a pedatric neurologist for my son's migraines.

defacto waiting lists

The only way to get into see a specialist in a hurry is to present at the ER with a full blown disease. Then the ER attending makes a next day or next week appointment.

It's called 'Crisis Management" It's how this country is run from top to bottom, side to side, beginning to end.

As a person who sews, I KNOW a stitch in time saves nine. If things were managed well at their outset, specialists wouldn't have long waiting lists.

ferd_berfle @ 28:

Canuck @ 24:

Greetings from Canada where 40 years socialized medicine had
lead us down the slippery slope to the evils of communism.

You also have a lower standard of sexual morality. May Gawd have mercy on y'all...

I know, I know. I feel so guilty.

:o)

A ROPE AND A TREE

Its possible to starve a company to death by starving it of revenues.

Cigna needs to be financially starved to death.

GMA Video Stream

This is so appalling I don't know what to say. My condolences to her family.

It's not just CIGNA!

It's all of them!

The health-insurance companies destroyed healthcare in the USA. Their primary purpose in life is to generate a profit, so that means taking your premium payments and giving you NOTHING in return, if that will generate a profit.

They are all the same. Kaiser Permanente started it (according to Sicko), and the republicans pumped life into the idea that we're better off with INSURANCE than healthcare.

Don't forget that Hillary Clinton is taking money from the health insurance business. She wants insurance for everybody.

We must end this madness, beginning in 2008. I truly mean it when I say death to the health-insurance corporations.

Hey JoeySoCal,

(Hi!) I'm just saying, this isn't a clear cut case yet because the media stories are inconsistent and everyone is in emotional-oh-my-god-those-bastards viceral mode. Doctors and Nurses write these letters all the time, even for people who don't meet those criteria...even for children who don't take their meds or don't follow treatment and de-qualify themselves for transplant...and even for people who aren't going to make it. If more facts come out, and she wasn't in a vegetative state, then (like I said), by all means, bash away at CIGNA. But vegetative is vegetative. If she was not going to recover from vegitative (even with a transplate), give the liver to someone else. That's triage.

Although we can't save Nataline, we can let the people of Cigna know what we think of them. Murderers.

Although this has ended tragically, I would suggest contacting the following Investor Relations people at Cigna. The more attention this gets in the media, the lower their stock price may dive...which falls in the domain of these folks:

Ted Detrick, Vice President, Investor Relations
215.761.1414
edwin.detrick@cigna.com

Joseph (Michael) Walter, Financial Analysis Senior Director
215.761.4575
michael.walter@cigna.com

Prith Ruprai, Financial Analysis Manager
215.761.1965
prithpal.ruprai@cigna.com

But, but, but reich-wingers keep telling us we have the super duperest health care in the universe?!!!!

"Hey Chris: “four leading physicians, including the surgical director of the Pediatric Liver Transplant Program at UCLA, wrote to CIGNA urging the company to reverse its denial. The physicians said that Nataline “currently meets criteria to be listed as Status 1A” for a transplant. They also challenged CIGNA’s denial which the company said occurred because their benefit plan “does not cover experimental, investigational and unproven services,” to which the doctors replied, “Nataline’s case is in fact none of the above.”…
Are you such the accomplished doctor that that is not enough for you?"

If her cases was so strong that all of these people sent letters, why didn't they do the procedure anyways, regardless of the fact that CIGNA wouldn't pay? Seems like the hospital is just as much at fault then as CIGNA.
How many of these letter signers offered to do it pro bono?

Where do we direct our anger? I say at the weasely Democrats who don't stand firmly for universal health care. We need to defeat these horrible Democrats in the primaries and elect politicians who represent our interests.

Dr. Matt @ 96:

But, but, but reich-wingers keep telling us we have the super duperest health care in the universe?!!!!

They do! It's the "To hell with poor people, I'm rich!" plan...

Only in America.

What amazes me about the health care debate in the US is the persistence of false rhetoric, myths and outright lies. To wit:

- public health care = wasteful bureaucracy

BULLSHIT. The opposite is true. The US spends 14% of GDP on health care. Canada? 8%. And everyone is covered, everyone has access to the system, unlike the US. Overhead in the Canadian single payer insurance system is less than 2% of total cost. In the US, overhead is more than 20%. Overhead = bureaucracy.

- public health care = poor medical care, higher mortality

TOTALLY FALSE. The US, for all the expense of American medical care, has equal or lower health outcomes in comparison to public systems for heart disease, most forms of cancer, infant mortality and many, many other medical conditions.

- public health care = "Socialized Medicine"

Next time you hear some right winger talking about the evils of "socialized medicine", ask him (or her) to define the term. Isn't it interesting that no journalist thinks to do this when politicians use this rhetoric? Yet there are huge differences in how public medical insurance is administered and allocated in different countries. In most European countries, private insurance is freely available alongside basic public care. Some countries have pure 'socialized' systems, where the government owns and runs hospitals directly, and doctors are salaried employees. In many others, hospitals are independent non-profit entities and doctors are self-employed. There isn't some single, socialistic model. That's a lame myth, and it deserves to be destroyed. France, Ireland, Canada, Japan, etc - all provide efficient universal care, yet every system is different. Why is this not talked about?

fizgig1 @ 33:

If the Democratic candidates are smart, they'll use this. I'm not a fan of negative ads, but what better way to expose the selfish scumbags running on the Repug side than to create attack ads that tell this girl's story. On another note, I'm tired of hearing from our "leaders" how we are the most compassionate, good people on earth everytime an earthquake or flood happens in some 3rd-world country and a few plane-loads of rice are sent with U.S. stamped on them. I think Nataline's story add some balance to that bullshit yeah?

Absolutely!

I would rather beat em with the cold, hard facts - but the coldest, hardest fact of all is that emotion is far more important to the majority of the electorate. Properly exploited (I hate myself for saying that, but I'm not gonna dance around it) this one tragic death could have more impact than the thousands that occur every year.

Will the Cigna managers responsible for this decision get a bigger Christmas bonus for denying her the transplant?

This is terrifying. To think that as a Canadian, people a few short hours away from me, if in a dire situation, can't even rely on the insurance they have been paying for because of companies like this.

Someone should organize a "We Want Socialized Healthcare" day for the near future. Everyone who wants socialized healthcare will not go to work, and instead take to the streets in mass protest. Even better, make it a month. You guys need to learn from the Labour movements of the 20th century and go out and use your power as working people to bring the system to a halt, if only for a little while. Otherwise I strongly doubt that anything will be done by the upper-class white dudes running the show.

Plisko @ 69:

Pacifus @ 56:

Samson- @ 52:

universal, not-for-profit healthcare = christianized medicine

We should start calling it that. Ooooh that'll draw their ire!

I've been in this conversation. The response from several of the "real Christians" about this is basically: "Paul said being Christian was about faith in Christ, not healing the sick, so stop trying to turn my religion into communism."

Clever ain't they? No. . . not really. . . they don't know their own Bible. They are chumps.

No they are not, the bible can be interpreted to basically to support anything you want, so I would not take them for Chumps.

I have a friend who has an advanced degree in religious theory. In order to proof the ridiculousness of the bible as a cannon, he could justify the holocaust with a few choice quotes from the bibles, at the same time he could make the same case that Jesus should have been executed and Christians deemed worthy of eternal damnation... again by using multiple choice quotes from several old testament books.

The Bible is a book written by committee and it shows. If it is indeed the word of "god" you can actually make a psychological profile, and the picture ain't pretty... we are dealing with a deity with a severe case of schizophrenia with clear psychotic tendencies.

Anyhow, I stopped trying to make sense of the conservative right wing of the Christian movement... basically their religion is more of a motivational speaker toolbox than anything else. I would not be surprised if most of the Cigna (and other health care providers/insurance companies) are devout "Christians" who do not miss a single service at their local mega church on Sundays. If you look at late night motivational speaking infomercials and televangelist shows, there is little difference in both content and modus operandi, heck sometimes you can't even tell them apart.

It is the perversion of a message of love down to such level of demagoguery, that sometimes I really hope there is a hell (even though I am agnostic) just so that this people get to roast for eternity... I certainly hope the yacht, the mansions, and the yearly holiday ski trip to the Swiss Alps were worth the fire roasting they may experience...

Reporter:

This isn't about evil companies- it's about how the system works. In many instances the companies decide what care you get, not the doctor... And when we talk about change, it's not to blame the company. It's to look at the system and what it can make happen.

Sorry, pal. I blame Cigna as much as the system.

CIGNA shareholders should be pleased

Access to health care should not be governed by greed.

The ONLY fix to this problem is universal single payer health care modeled on the Canadian system. It isn't perfect, but it's better than a for profit system like ours. To those who repeat the horror myths created by health insurers I always say, "Canada is a democracy. Were their system that bad, they would change it.."

That usually leaves the defenders of Cigna, HealthSource, Anthem scratching their heads.

In truth, I have a number of friends lucky enough to be Canadians. Their comment to a man (or woman) is, "Cancel the Stanley Cup, but not our system of health insurance." They also feel sorry for us.

Why don't I move north. Because I'm retired, not wealthy, and have no relatives in Canada to sponsor me. Were I younger, I'd be packing now because, except for Kucinich, the Democratic candidates are promising a duct tape and safety pin Rube Goldberg concoction which uses for profit companies to fix access.

As for Cigna - If the California Board of Insurance or whatever regulates insurers in that state has any cojones, they will decertify the company unless Cigna cans all executives without golden parachutes, pays the Sarkisians 100 million dollars in reparations and demonstrates through payment of claims that they have changed.

This is a tragic story that illuminates the sad fact that This Same Story happens every day. While I would never equate this tragedy to my own story,My wife is an invalid today because of the criminal 'workers comp' swindle. 'Doctors' in the employ of the 'Insurence ' companys have sold out in a way You would not believe. The whole 'system' is corrupt. Don't get Me going-I could rant for hours and tell tales that would curl your hair.

I hope her family sues and wins $1000 million from CIGNA. Apparently, the main language spoken at CIGNA is Accounting so a BIG FAT settlement in greenbacks might rattle some cages over there. You know, the sad thing is that there are many good people who work at CIGNA. They are trapped in a system that does not work properly. I called and wanted to yell at the woman on the other end of the line but realized it was not HER fault and that the people who were actually culpable for the denial are protected from direct punishment because they work for a corporation. It makes me sick.

"Freedom" isn't free. No, there's a hefty fuckin' fee. And if Michael Moore can't open our eyes, who will?

This is a very sad story, of course, and I do feel for the family and friends of Natalie (and those of us still here who may one day find ourselves in this position).

I do have a couple questions that I haven't seen answers to, however:
1. Was there a liver available, or would she have had to be put on a waiting list?
2. If one was available for her, isn't it doubly-sad that doctors are so afraid to do anything without an Ok from an insurance company in this country? Why not just do the work and run the media campaign during/after the procedure?

IgnoranceIsNotBliss @ 11:

Links aren't working. Please fix.

[Thanks. I've emailed the link fixers-Sitemonitor]

Thanks, but I don't think they got it. They still aren't working.

Site Monitor: They're working for me. You may need to clean out your cache files.

Cat Paw, the answers to your questions are in this article:

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/CancerPreventionAndTreatment/story?id=4038257&...

I just got my internet connection up and read this on CNN. Shameful. Very sad. Words cannot express the anger I'm feeling right now. Let this be a wake up call to all those conservatives he scream "socialized medicine". This brave girl did not die in vain. She died for us. She died for everyone without health insurance and everyone who has ever been denied a claim. How will idiots like Rush, Hannity etc...spin this. I'm angry, I'm pissed.

The megasolution is socialized medicine or whatever...

All the same, this young girl is fucking dying, time is of the essence, and these friggin' healthcare professionals are waiting, waiting, waiting, until they know they will be paid until they do a thing???

What is that?

They are rallying for their payment, while their patient dies.

I have health insurance, as do my children. I do not trust these moneygrubbing healthcare professionals to do shit for me and mine. I am 56 years old, smoke a pack a day, have since I was 17, and you'd think any friggin' doctor presented with me would look at my lungs and heart first....biggest killers of women....but no!!! All they want to look at are my vagina and tits!!! Not all that goddamn surprising, since most doctors have friggin' invested in the testing labs that check out vaginas and tits.

I have not seen a doctor since 2002, when I was hit by truck and sent to a "so-called" emergency room and left to die for four hours strapped to a stretcher. I am not kidding.
I landed on my head, the firemen who rushed across the street knew exactly what to do, the EMS personnel who rushed me to the hospital were golden.

The figgin' healthcare pros, MD's and RN's, not so much

Hillary's health plan doesn't root out a main problem here which is INSURANCE COMPANIES motivated solely by profit.

Jesusturnedwaterboardingintowhine @ 9:

Put the liver in her body and sort out who pays for it later. There should have been someone at the hospital that pushed that angle. They should have a policy for such life-saving situations knowing full-well that the insurance companies suck.

The hospital wanted a $75,000 deposit from the family to perform the procedure, guess they did not have that kind of cash on hand. It's Christmastime, perhaps they were a little strapped for cash. Shame on Cigna. I interviewed with CIGNA many years ago. Some muckity mucks spent 45 minutes telling me all the great benefits CIGNA offered. Then they told me the job description forthe position. If they had only read my resume before they called me in, they would have seen I did not have experience in that particular line of business! A total waste of time!!!

Chris @ 98:

"Hey Chris: “four leading physicians, including the surgical director of the Pediatric Liver Transplant Program at UCLA, wrote to CIGNA urging the company to reverse its denial. The physicians said that Nataline “currently meets criteria to be listed as Status 1A” for a transplant. They also challenged CIGNA’s denial which the company said occurred because their benefit plan “does not cover experimental, investigational and unproven services,” to which the doctors replied, “Nataline’s case is in fact none of the above.”…
Are you such the accomplished doctor that that is not enough for you?"

If her cases was so strong that all of these people sent letters, why didn't they do the procedure anyways, regardless of the fact that CIGNA wouldn't pay? Seems like the hospital is just as much at fault then as CIGNA.
How many of these letter signers offered to do it pro bono?

Do you have a frigging clue how much this costs even if the doctors and nurses donate their time (which paid by the hour would be a lot in and of itself), you then have oxgyen, monitors, medication/sedative supplies, sterile supplies, electrcity, linens, etc. etc. etc. ... this is a long and not a cheap surgery - and to back up the doctors here, what do they say to the thousands of others needing this surgery?

"Sure, I don't need to eat, pay for my family, pay off my student loans or my malpractice insurance."

"No sorry, Nataline was it."

Without the invisible ink showing:
The tagline on the Cigna website is “A Business of Caring.”

With the invisible ink showing:
The tagline on the Cigna website is “A Business of Caring For Our Profits Only.”

Samson- @ 12:

if you go to cigna's web page you will notice that cigna bills itself as "a business of caring"

and, suprising no one, no where in their 'news' section is it mentioned that cigna denied Nataline coverage, that led to her death.

and, again, this is why ron paul's recipe for america is downright dangerous, and dennis kucinich is the only presidential candidate calling for an end to for-profit health care.

you bet, hes the only one!

Kyuzo @ 141:

David Hawes @ 133:

The John Grisham novel 'The Rain Maker' is an excellant read covering this very subject.

It was also made into a fairly decent film adaptation with Matt Damon and Jon Voight.

I missed that Movie. I'm sure it was good since those actors where in it