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

On 6/4/26 7:29 AM, Mitchell Holman wrote:
> 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.

How about Medicare and TriCareforlife?

The giverment 'cares' about us all...right????