My Health Insurance Denied My Cancer Treatment—and My Humanity. So I Emailed the CEO
In the summer of 2024, my oncologist called with bad news. The news was from my insurance company. “They won’t pay,” she said. The October before, I had been diagnosed with breast cancer at age 36. Throughout treatment, the news grew worse: The cancer had spread to my lymph nodes, a second tumor was found, radiation was recommended, but would permanently deform my body. Chemotherapy would likely render me infertile, I learned in November on page 37 of a 38-page waiver the night before starting. Hormone therapy put me into menopause in December, and also made me suicidal, which was apparently an unfortunate side effect sometimes. Despite wearing a cap chilled to 15 degrees for several hours at every infusion, my long red hair fell almost entirely out by January, taking with it any part of me that still felt like a woman at all. By February, the tumor wasn’t shrinking enough. In March, surgery would need to be aggressive, and in April, it was. May brought more bad news: My initial biopsy missed a …
