Health Insurance Denials Are Deadly & You Can Fix It.

I am your constituent and I want to bring to your attention the abominable state of insurance companies delaying and denying claims and denying treatment with prior authorizations. People die from these delays and no one is held accountable. Here are some examples for you: A Journal of the American Medical Association study found that of 178 cancer patients 22% never received needed treatment because their insurance companies DENIED TREATMENT. Here is a link to the study for you. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2810824?resultClick=24 Here is an article, this week, from NBC on how Medicare Advantage is declining to pay for medically necessary treatments in order to increase profits and how this damages rural healthcare - https://www.nbcnews.com/health/rejecting-claims-medicare-advantage-rural-hospitals-rcna121012# I just learned of a woman in Port Townsend, Washington whose cancer stricken husband was denied medically ordered hospital admittance for treatment. The insurance company refused to pay and his wife was left with $10,000 in bills. This happened once a month for 6 months. He died and she lost half her life savings. Now is the time to get on the right side of healthcare. For the sake of all of us, please stop siding with profit-minded insurance companies. I recall all the GOP claims that Obamacare would lead to death-panels and rationing; now that role is being fully played by insurance companies who are standing between people and their healthcare. Because rural or urban, we all want to see a doctor at a local hospital. We all want our local hospital to be open. No one, rural or urban, wants some corporate insurance giant located in another state telling them they don't need this test or that procedure. We need a complete overhaul of our healthcare delivery systems. Widows who watched their spouses die should not also watch their bank account be depleted for corporate profits. I believe Universal Healthcare, like HR 3421, public insurance paying private providers is a step in the right direction. If you have a better idea bring it forward, because the greed in the system is killing us. Please stand on the right side of history on this one. I need to know what you plan to do, I expect a response from you.