Patient's Insurance Canceled Hours Before Life-Saving Brain Operation

Patient's Insurance Canceled Hours Before Life-Saving Brain Operation

[link to www.foxnews.com]

Patient's Insurance Canceled Hours Before Life-Saving Brain Operation
Wednesday, July 16, 2008


A 19-year-old Tampa Bay, Fla., woman is suffering from a debilitating brain disorder that may kill her after an insurance company canceled the family's medical coverage just before she was due to receive life-saving brain surgery, Tampa Bay’s 10 News reported.

Caitlin Jackson recently was diagnosed with the disorder Chiari malformation, which causes her excruciating headaches and fainting spells. The condition eventually destroys motor skills and memory.

"I constantly have to have somebody around me," Jackson told Tampa Bay’s 10 News. "I can't even stay at home for five minutes."

She was hours from getting the necessary surgery for her condition when her insurance company, Aetna, waited too long to approve the operation, giving the green light 15 minutes too late. By the time it sent approval, Jackson had lost the operating room to another patient and her surgery had to be rescheduled.

But Aetna then told Jackson it would not cover the surgery at all, saying her benefits had run out and leaving her to cover the $113,000 surgery.

Jackson told Tampa Bay’s 10 News that while her family is in talks with lawyers about appealing the insurance company's decision and while Aetna reviews her case, she has put her life on hold.

"I just have told myself. I have to get through this. I have to pray my way through it," Jackson told Tampa Bay’s 10 News.

Click here to read more on this story from Tampa Bay’s 10 News. [link to www.tampabays10.com]