Re: Retired San Francisco firefighter dies from lung cancer after Blue Shield denies treatment claims

pothead <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]: 

> On 2026-06-04, useapen <[email protected]> wrote:
>> SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The retired San Francisco firefighter at the
>> center of a bitter insurance fight has lost his battle against
>> cancer. 
>>
>> Ken Jones passed away Saturday, 14 months after being diagnosed with
>> stage four lung cancer. 
>>
>> PREVIOUS REPORT: City asked to intervene after SF firefighter's stage
>> 4 lung cancer treatment denied by Blue Shield 
>>
>> We first told you about Jones in January -- when the 17-year veteran
>> and supporters asked the City Commission for help. 
>>
>> The Fire Department's insurance carrier, Blue Shield, denied coverage
>> for some of his recommended treatments. 
>>


     The stranglelhold Big Insurance has over
health care is a crime against humanity. 



>> Ken Jones was 70 years old.
>>
>> RELATED: SF firefighters rally for retiree denied cancer treatment by
>> Blue Shield as more come forward 
>>
>> "After we got some publicity, thank you, a Blue Shield physician
>> reached out to Ken's physician, and they worked out a different plan
>> that Blue Shield would cover. It's still an incomplete plan," said
>> Helen Horvath, Jones' wife when ABC7 Eyewitness News spoke to her in
>> January, 2026. 
>>
>> Since then, Jones' story has led to an investigation into other
>> cases, with the city's mayor vowing to support firefighters. 
>>
>> According to San Francisco's Health Service Board, about 5,000 city
>> employees and retirees are insured by Blue Shield. Now, city leaders
>> are asking anyone who has been denied cancer treatment to speak up. 
>>
>> Tony Stefani with the Cancer Prevention Foundation said firefighters
>> with a cancer diagnosis have a 14% higher chance of dying than other
>> cancer patients in the general population. 
>>
>> "Current statistics tell us that 65% of the men and women in our
>> profession are going to contract some form of cancer in their
>> lifetime. Some of them will be fatal," Stefani said. 
>>
>> In a Statement Blue Shield said, in part: "For Medicare members,
>> health plans must follow medical policy established by the Centers
>> for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)." 
>>
>> https://abc7news.com/post/retired-san-francisco-firefighter-ken-jones-
>> die s-lung-cancer-being-denied-treatment-blue-shield/19224406/ 
> 
> Things like this should never happen in the USA or any civilized
> country. But yet they do.
> Something needs to change.


     Insurance companies don't care about 
poicy holders, they care about stockholders.