Terminally Ill Woman’s Insurance Company Will Pay for Her Assisted Suicide, But Not for Chemo

The Washington Times reported that the California Assisted-suicide law prompted an insurance company to deny coverage to a terminally ill California woman.

Bradford Richardson, from the Washington Times reported that Stephanie Packer, a wife and mother of four who was diagnosed with a terminal form of scleroderma, said that her insurance company initially indicated it would pay for her to switch to a different chemotherapy drug based on the recommendation of her doctors but shortly after the California assisted suicide law went into effect, her insurance company denied her treatment.

Richardson reported Packer as saying:


“And when the law was passed, it was a week later I received a letter in the mail saying they were going to deny coverage for the chemotherapy that we were asking for,”


She said she called her insurance company to find out why her coverage had been denied. On the call, she also asked whether suicide pills were covered under her plan.


“And she says, ‘Yes, we do provide that to our patients, and you would only have to pay $1.20 for the medication,’”Mrs. Packer said.

www.lifenews.com...



And this medicine in 2016. I can see this to be commonplace soon. Didn't Obama once say, "Give grandma a pill instead of a new hip" once?


This is our future in socialized medicine in my opinion.

This is barbaric and pathetic....Chemotherapy gave me an additional eight wonderful years with my wife before she died of breast cancer.

No that's your future under the rule of insurance companies.

Anything for them to save a buck.

a reply to: IAMTAT

I'm so sorry. This must hit close to home.

a reply to: Hazardous1408

There are many way to lower the costs of medical services. But none of them include government being involved.

Blame hospitals, blame insurance companies if you wish.

I'm blaming government interference.

a reply to: DBCowboy

And this medicine in 2016. I can see this to be commonplace soon. Didn't Obama once say, "Give grandma a pill instead of a new hip" once?
This is our future in socialized medicine in my opinion.

This is under the "free" market. That we can say for sure we are living it. Now with socialized med we can't say because we don't have that.

It is a shame that we have a middle man between us and the expensive Dr.'s. The free market is getting so expensive it is now equal to a mortgage payment for just the premiums. This of course leaves out the super high deductibles and co pay and meds.

The free market is broken, because there is no competition. What is the correct direction to go?

Sounds dangerously close to a real death panel.

a reply to: seasonal

Costs have no ceiling when government is paying for the bill.

Open free markets for insurance companies across borders of the states.

Limit malpractice payouts from lawsuits.

The medical industry is dying under the weight of government imposed regulation.

originally posted by: xuenchen
Sounds dangerously close to a real death panel.

Shhhh. Just shut up and take your pill.

originally posted by: DBCowboy
a reply to: IAMTAT

I'm so sorry. This must hit close to home.

She died young...but without chemo, we wouldn't have had many more years and memories together.
Negotiating with the insurance companies was difficult...and we had to jump through plenty of hoops,...but at least it gave us hope and much more treasured time together.

Obamacare takes away something that is priceless to those who are able to appreciate it....Hope.

a reply to: seasonal

"Give grandma a pill instead of a new hip" once?

Yes he did say something along those lines but it is not as cut and dried as that statement suggests .

a reply to: hutch622

Thank you for the proper quote/context.

a reply to: IAMTAT

People can easily blame insurance companies, but there was a partnership with the government with the creation of Obamacare.

Insurance companies must be removed from the loop, along with any profit motive that seeks to supercede the hypocratic oath.

We've gone horribly wrong here.

I do blame insurance companies and greed.

Medicare for everyone. My older relatives are on medicare and they've never been denied benefits.

originally posted by: IAMTAT
a reply to: IAMTAT

She died young...but without chemo, we wouldn't have had many more years and memories together.
Negotiating with the insurance companies was difficult...and we had to jump through plenty of hoops,...but at least it gave us hope and much more treasured time together.

Obamacare takes away something that is priceless to those who are able to appreciate it....Hope.

I feel for you. I feel you far more than you.

a reply to: seasonal

This is under the "free" market.

How is it a free market when the government not only dictates what you MUST purchase.... but also dictates the amount of coverage you MUST purchase....?

Insurance companies determine our health care. It's been this way before the ACA. They won't pay a part, you won't get it unless you can find the money. Overpriced charges and medicines aren't helping either.

It's a money making business, not real health care.

originally posted by: xuenchen
Sounds dangerously close to a real death panel.

Obama predicted this would happen during his first year of the Presidency. Here, Obama tells this lady that it's probably best for her mother to die, rather than receive expensive medical care, because it drains the system.

Brief Video Clip: www.youtube.com...

The NEGATIVE aspects of ObamaCare are the only things Obama mentioned that are/have come true. (He saw it as a POSITIVE)

This is an evil. A travesty that a life cant be saved over something as empty as money. There are few things more evil than choosing to let someone die rather than to help your fellow human being. A life is not worth it? Evil..

A death panel by any other name...

a reply to: DBCowboy

Costs have no ceiling when government is paying for the bill.
Open free markets for insurance companies across borders of the states.
Limit malpractice payouts from lawsuits.
The medical industry is dying under the weight of government imposed regulation.

Costs have no ceiling when government is paying for the bill. How is the govt paying the bills? Was she using medicare/medicaid?

Open free markets for insurance companies across borders of the states. Agreed

Limit malpractice payouts from lawsuits. Bad idea, if the people who cause the injury don't properly compensate the injured, they end up on medicaid and medicare. This would mean that the tax payers would not only subsidize too big to fail, also Dr's.

The medical industry is dying under the weight of government imposed regulation. Maybe, I don't know. If you have some info or sites I would love to look it over.

I remember all the lies that were told about the McDonald vs old lady that spilled the coffee in lap. The spin machine left out some very interesting facts to sway the public. The object was to push tort reform, when this case was definitely a actionable and McDonalds paid, as they should.