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

On 05 Jun 2026, NoBody <[email protected]> posted some
news:[email protected]: 

> On Thu, 4 Jun 2026 12:53:17 -0000 (UTC), pothead
><[email protected]> wrote:
> 
>>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. 
>>>
>>> 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.
> 
> What's missing is what was denied and the reasons provided.  The story
> sounds carefully crafted to omit this and is pushing an agenda.
>>Something needs to change.

"Blue Shield repeatedly argued that in Jones’ situation, the denials were 
due to medical guidelines that did not support the combination of 
chemotherapy and immunotherapy Jones’ oncologist requested."

It's an experimental treatment on a patient with no chance. That is the 
stuff of research grants, not insurance, and not charity.