Good Morning America segment yesterday
Jim DeWees
Description
Collection
Title:
Good Morning America segment yesterday
Creator:
Jim DeWees
Date:
1/15/2009
Text:
Yesterday morning I got a call from a good friend and fellow prosthetist about the story on Good Morning America.
It is about a young wife/mother who lost her legs above the knee from an infection, and then was getting a huge run-around with Anthem, and the denial process for her getting a pair of microprocessor knees.
She did the appeals process 2 times I think, and lost both times. She took it to the state board of insurance, and they ruled in her favor and WON the battle, and Anthem was forced to pay the claim.
The only bad part of this coverage, that is highly misleading is that they state that the provider (which I cannot mention here) says that they are the company that makes the legs for people just like this patient. The name of the company is mentioned several times, like it is about them during a part of the story.
But, the bottom line is that it shows how Anthem basically shorts the amputees and doesn't allow them to get what might be better for their lives.
The woman that was interviewed about how insurance companies got away with this, and she basically misleads everyone stating that some insurance companies provide what might be justified for some populations, but not for others. Well, Anthem doesn't provide any microprocessors for ANY patients, they are all considered experimental and not covered.
To see this story, go to:
<URL Redacted>
On their search bar, type in amputee denied and it is right their.
I don't know how long they will keep this clip to be viewable, so I would go there soon. I cannot figure out how to save this clip to my computer, I don't know if it is possible. If anyone can save it, please let me know, and send it to me.
Also, this is a GREAT opportunity for ALL of us in this field, either as a prosthetist, or as an amputee, or both, but we ALL need to take advantage of ANY situation like this, which is a great plea to the public, to inform the public of these unfair practices of these insurance companies, and air this all on any source of media that we can possibly access. The more we share these nightmare stories with the public, the sooner that the public will react to these, and hopefully let the insurance companies realize that they cannot afford this bad publicity.....which is basically how the insurance companies operate. Is is in their best interest to just pay these claims and not give people the opportunity to slam them in the media, or does the cost of paying the claims out-weigh what they could lose because of the bad publicity......
I honestly think that this is the only way we can cause some kind of change in this area. Leglislation might be effective to some degree, but nothing is more powerful to these companies that the dollar, and if they are afraid of losing business due to constant attacks in the media, then they might change their policies and practices.
I applaud this patient and the prosthetist for making this story go out to the public, and I hope more come out soon like this....like EVERYDAY!!!
Thanks
Jim DeWees, CP
_________________________________________________________________
Windows Live™ Hotmail®: Chat. Store. Share. Do more with mail.
<URL Redacted>
It is about a young wife/mother who lost her legs above the knee from an infection, and then was getting a huge run-around with Anthem, and the denial process for her getting a pair of microprocessor knees.
She did the appeals process 2 times I think, and lost both times. She took it to the state board of insurance, and they ruled in her favor and WON the battle, and Anthem was forced to pay the claim.
The only bad part of this coverage, that is highly misleading is that they state that the provider (which I cannot mention here) says that they are the company that makes the legs for people just like this patient. The name of the company is mentioned several times, like it is about them during a part of the story.
But, the bottom line is that it shows how Anthem basically shorts the amputees and doesn't allow them to get what might be better for their lives.
The woman that was interviewed about how insurance companies got away with this, and she basically misleads everyone stating that some insurance companies provide what might be justified for some populations, but not for others. Well, Anthem doesn't provide any microprocessors for ANY patients, they are all considered experimental and not covered.
To see this story, go to:
<URL Redacted>
On their search bar, type in amputee denied and it is right their.
I don't know how long they will keep this clip to be viewable, so I would go there soon. I cannot figure out how to save this clip to my computer, I don't know if it is possible. If anyone can save it, please let me know, and send it to me.
Also, this is a GREAT opportunity for ALL of us in this field, either as a prosthetist, or as an amputee, or both, but we ALL need to take advantage of ANY situation like this, which is a great plea to the public, to inform the public of these unfair practices of these insurance companies, and air this all on any source of media that we can possibly access. The more we share these nightmare stories with the public, the sooner that the public will react to these, and hopefully let the insurance companies realize that they cannot afford this bad publicity.....which is basically how the insurance companies operate. Is is in their best interest to just pay these claims and not give people the opportunity to slam them in the media, or does the cost of paying the claims out-weigh what they could lose because of the bad publicity......
I honestly think that this is the only way we can cause some kind of change in this area. Leglislation might be effective to some degree, but nothing is more powerful to these companies that the dollar, and if they are afraid of losing business due to constant attacks in the media, then they might change their policies and practices.
I applaud this patient and the prosthetist for making this story go out to the public, and I hope more come out soon like this....like EVERYDAY!!!
Thanks
Jim DeWees, CP
_________________________________________________________________
Windows Live™ Hotmail®: Chat. Store. Share. Do more with mail.
<URL Redacted>
Citation
Jim DeWees, “Good Morning America segment yesterday,” Digital Resource Foundation for Orthotics and Prosthetics, accessed December 26, 2024, https://library.drfop.org/items/show/229963.
