Posted on 04/24/2015 11:49:17 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Hospital staff broke the news to a Tacoma, Wash. woman that her operation to remove a tumor from her breast would not be happening.
Medical benefits tied to her retired husband’s U.S. Army service had expired just 12 hours before, a detail on the 41-year-old woman’s benefits card that no one noticed until she was already prepped for surgery at Madigan Army Medical Center, according to a KING-TV report.
Patricia Zuniga described the bearers of bad news as “upfront” about the awkward discovery.
“You’re not having your surgery today. You do not have health care. You do not have benefits,” Zuniga was told during her Jan. 27 appointment at the hospital.
She had been led to believe her health care expired on Jan. 30, six months after her husband’s injuries discharged him from service.
She organized the appointment in December after learning a mammogram and needle biopsy found a tumor. Doctors at the time said it was not malignant.
Zuniga still doesn’t know how bad her medical condition, but she fears cancer is overtaking her body especially after she found another lump over her thyroid gland, she told KING-TV.
Unable to have the either tumor removed on her own dime, she’s waiting for new benefits with the Affordable Care Act to kick in.
“I feel scared. I’ve got two daughters. I’m a young woman and I want to live. That’s all I think, every day when I take a shower, when I see it,” Zuniga added.
Sgt Maj & Nick;
Another player in this is whether or not her retired husband and/or she is 65 and has or has not signed up for medicare. Under Tricare Prime, a monthly premium is paid. When one turns 65 Tricare Prime ends and one is automatically converted to “Tricare for Life” which requires that one is enrolled in Medicare. I just when through that drill a couple of years ago. And under Tricare for Life, you are no longer seeable by military doctors unless you get on a hospital’s list of the limited numbers of retirees they are permitted to provide medical services too. I got that set up for me, and am now having to do it for my wife, which will not be fun as all Tricare is done online because the hospital/base/post ‘Tricare service centers’ were closed a year ago to ‘save costs.’
Even if they didn’t pay for Tricare Prime, Tricare Standard would apply...
I don’t think he was retired. That’s probably just what the dumb journalist thought.
But I thought obamacare was going to solve all that!
I have to say, I’m a retiree’s wife, he died in ‘08 and I of course still have my ID and coverage. They’ve done a FANTASTIC job of covering my care, which includes two different cancers, surgeries, chemotherapies, radiation.
Many, many hundreds of thousands of dollars in care. They’ve never turned me down for anything I’ve needed. I’ve had PET scans and CT scans and X rays and biopsies. The list is endless.
Just wait til the lawyers get hold of this hospital and the individuals responsible! Wow!
Tricare Prime has a cost, but Tricare Standard does not but does have a copay and deductible.
We dependants do not go to the VA. Only veterans go to the VA.
“Doctors are just mercenaries after all.”
Why don’t you send her the entire contents of your bank account so she can have the surgery?
I think you’ll find the answer to your question is similar to your answer to my question.
She refers to herself and her two children as young. Not 65.
The LOVE of MONEY is the ROOT of EVIL.
Thank you. I reread the article and saw that she is 41.
There is this line that requires more information about the type of discharge her husband received and whether or not it was an actually retirement: “She had been led to believe her health care expired on Jan. 30, six months after her husband’s injuries discharged him from service.”
this is definitely a news article that needs more information than is provided.
From further down the article and the ID card with expiration date was shown in the news video:
“Patricia says it wasn’t until later she saw the expiration date in fine print on her military I.D. card, that said January 26, 2015. She admits she should have noticed it, but even more importantly, the staff at Madigan should have.”
the surgery was scheduled for Jan. 30.
There are multiple programs, charities, and generous people who would help out if she needs it. The surgeons and their staff all took the Hippocratic Oath when the signed on but that went out the window with today's "take the money and run" ethos. Surgeons denying vital surgery at the last minute due to indigence is prima facia evidence of their corruption.
I’m a retiree, as was my father. My parents received such substandard care at Walter Reed that I pulled them out and got good specialists through Medicare, all within three miles of their home. WRAMC was filthy, rundown, and a bacteria factory. Docs failed to diagnose my mother’s ovarian cancer; civilian surgeon removed a bowling ball sized tumor. Military medicine failed to diagnose a lung fungus I contracted during a flight detachment to the Imperial Valley. Coughed for more than four months before it burned out. Developed a baseball sized sebaceous cyst on my shoulder after ship’s dispensary gave me five simultaneous immunizations in one arm. Ship’s doc refused to treat it, telling me to wait three weeks to make home port. Used a knife to lance the cyst myself (no painkillers), and drained it over a number of days. Still have minor flareups for time to time.
They are military doctors. It’s not like she isn’t better off not receiving military medicine.
As has been pointed out, these are military docs working in a military hospital. They are probably very young, recent med school grads paying off ROTC debt by doing their service years. They are NOT being paid as a surgeon in private practice would be. AND, they don’t call the shots on going forward with the surgery or not. That is a hospital administration decision.
One administrative consideration is that the woman was not covered at the time of the scheduled surgery. If they proceeded and there was any kind of problem, they’d have had a massive liability, in addition to not being paid for the services rendered.
Your calls of corruption are misplaced.
I beg to differ: I owe my life to military doctors. They are usually superb. I didn’t catch that the operation was scheduled at a military hospital. Are you sure? If so, her husband could’ve been extended for a short period so she could’ve had coverage. Cancer’s too serious not to look at every option.
No, surgeons that deny life-saving surgery and the administrators that direct them to deny it are wrong. They have an oath to live up to and if they suddenly discovered that the lady was I eligible, they should have sought an administrative solution ( such as looking for a waiver, or getting the husband extended on active duty.
Denying critical cancer surgery at the last minute is heartless.
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