[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 18580]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                A HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANY HORROR STORY

  (Ms. SCHAKOWSKY asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. A health insurance company horror story about Robin 
Beaton, a 59-year-old woman who was a registered nurse for 30 years, 
healthy, with health insurance. She retired to set up her own small 
business and got an individual policy with Blue Cross/Blue Shield. She 
went to the dermatologist for acne. A word was written on her chart 
that, interpreted incorrectly, as meaning precancerous. Here are her 
words, Shortly thereafter, I was diagnosed with a very aggressive form 
of breast cancer and was told I needed a double mastectomy. The Friday 
before the Monday I was scheduled to have my double mastectomy, Blue 
Cross red-flagged my report due to the dermatologist's report. The 
dermatologist called Blue Cross directly to report I had only acne and 
pleaded not to hold up the surgery. Then Blue Cross called to inform 
her that they were launching a 5-year medical investigation into her 
medical history and that she would not be able to have the surgery. She 
was frantic. Then she found out that the insurance policy that she had 
been paying premiums on was canceled altogether. She says, The sad 
thing is Blue Cross took my premiums, and when I was suspected of 
having cancer, they searched for a reason to cancel me. This happened, 
and 7 months later the tumor doubled in size, went into her lymph 
nodes; and now her prognosis is worse.
  We have an opportunity today to bring peace of mind to all Americans 
and pass health insurance reform.

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