September 2017


www.hamptonroadsmessenger.com


HU Fights Insurance Companies on Behalf of Cancer Patients for Proton Therapy


The Hampton Roads Messenger 11


Gov. McAuliffe Urges Trump Administration to Put Families Ahead of Politics on Health Care


For many cancer


patients,


access to insurance coverage for proton therapy is a matter of life and death.


However, so many


patients find themselves locked out as insurance companies still refuse to provide them coverage for this life-saving treatment modality. Hampton University held a press conference at the Hampton University Proton Therapy Institute; The message of the press conference was clear: enough is enough.


After a long battle at the


state capital, the Virginia General Assembly passed a bill in February making it illegal


forms of cancer treatment, such as traditional


standard than other radiation


and


chemotherapy, in their coverage determination. This bill, sponsored by Delegate


David and Bill Yancey


(R-Newport News), Hampton University President Dr. William R. Harvey


the Associate Vice President of Governmental


Hampton University, emphatically said "you can't put someone's health."


Relations a


price on


Similar to legislation passed by the Oklahoma


their insurance provider legislature,


Virginia’s law was intended to provide legal protection should a cancer patient encounter resistance from


when seeking coverage for proton therapy. In Oklahoma, over 90 percent of their cancer patients seeking


coverage for proton


therapy have been denied. Since Virginia House Bill #1656 was passed and signed by the governor with an emergency


denied coverage their


insurance providers. One Virginia resident who


was recently denied was Dianne Weber. After a grueling battle with


anal cancer, her doctors


Virginia patients have repeatedly been


provision, by


Thomas, at


for insurance


companies to hold proton therapy to a higher


recommended proton therapy to rid her of remaining cancer in her aortic bifurcation, a procedure they strongly suggested she have within two weeks to prevent the tumor from growing and potentially spreading throughout her body. On August 16th, Dianne's insurance provider, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield


claim. A week later, they denied her appeal,


of Virginia, citing


denied her an outdated


ASTRO policy from 2014. Their reasoning: they continue to brand proton therapy as "experimental."


can't cover a patient due to proton therapy


"The assertion being


what


that Anthem they call


'experimental' is a lie." Bill Thomas said. "If that was the case, why do 9 of the 10 cancer centers with top national rankings and leadership in cancer prevention and therapy offer proton therapy? I have never known the Mayo Clinic, MD Anderson, and Johns Hopkins to rely on anything unproven."


“This was not what the governor and the legislature intended when they


passed this


law, that we would have to go through this,” Dianne's husband, Jack Weber said.


Dianne and Jack Weber, along with a number of other Virginia residents who feel


they were


blocked from receiving the best possible treatment for their cancer by their insurance carrier solely due to monetary reasons, will be in attendance at Thursday's press conference to tell their stories and fight back.


"These insurance providers


in the Commonwealth of Virginia are still refusing to cover proton therapy, period. Enough is enough." Bill Thomas said.


"We need to collectively stand up to what is right and support these vulnerable citizens, or are we willing to allow Virginians to needlessly die?


You are cordially invited to attend...


City Council meetings... Norfolk - regular meetings are held on the first and fourth Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. and the second and third Tuesday at 2:30 p.m.


Chesapeake - regular meetings are held on the second, third and fourth Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m.


Newport News - regular business meetings are held on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month at 7:00 p.m.


Suffolk - regular meetings are held on the first and third Wednesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. Hampton - typically take place on the second and fourth Wednesday of every month at 7:30 p.m.


Virginia Beach - meets on the first four Tuesdays of each month. In July the meetings are scheduled on the first two Tuesdays only. Formal session begins at 6 p.m. Portsmouth - meeting dates are the second and fourth Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m.


Governor Terry McAuliffe released the following statement after Optima Health announced it will be pulling back from some insurance markets across the Commonwealth:


latest evidence that the Trump Ad- ministration’s deliberate


“Optima’s announcement is the efforts to


sabotage the Affordable Care Act are hurting families and damaging economies


across this nation. My


administration and I have been doing everything within our power to strengthen Virginia’s health care Marketplace. However, as we have heard from Optima and other insurers who have pulled back from Virginia markets,


their decisions are being


driven by instability and uncertainty that the President and Congress are creating through their inaction.


“This and other recent departures by insurers are avoidable


President and Congress would simply follow the law and implement


if the the


Affordable Care Act as it is written. Unfortunately, their refusal to fulfill their legal obligation to properly fund the Cost Sharing Reduction (CSR) payments


and take other have created simple


actions to strengthen the insurance markets


too much


uncertainty for these companies to be able to provide services in many


places across the country. “This is not about politics. It’s


about people’s lives. It’s time for President Trump and Republicans in Congress to put their partisan agenda aside and stand up for the people who elected them to make their lives better. We need action to sustain the Affordable Care Act and we need it now.


It is possible that with quick action by Congress and the President insurers could come back into the localities they have left.”


Unless President will leave Trump and


Congress act to bring insurers back to markets they have left, Optima’s decision localities


63 with no health Marketplace


Virginia insurer


available through the Marketplace in 2018. More than 62,000 people with current


plans live in


those localities. Another six localities will only be partially covered. The void will be mostly in rural localities, where access to doctors and hospitals is already limited.


Earlier


McAuliffe signed a letter with a bipartisan


coalition


this year, Governor of governors


outlining steps Congress and the President can take to strengthen health insurance markets through the Affordable Care Act.


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