J. McCutchen

Front page lede in the Sunday SF Chron....

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I wanted to share this article with the readership here. It's not something you'd read about in the MSM, but it's not something you read about in the so called open atmosphere of the blogosphere either. Yet it is as big and crucial an issue as the war in Iraq, as well as many other issues.

Please read this article, I include the url for where it appeared in the newspaper of Oklahoma University, as I hope you will visit the site as there is a photograph of Zheng Guan and his wife Helen, it's very poignant.

Life in perilBy Tiara Etheridge The Oklahoma Daily
Posted 9:48 p.m., March 14, 2007
http://hub.ou.edu/articles/article.php?item_id=1419960962&section_id=1774511018

An OU researcher lies in OU Medical Center’s Presbyterian Tower fighting for his life, and OU’s insurance carrier, Aetna, could be partially to blame.

Zheng Ping Guan, who came to OU in January 2005 as a post-doctoral research associate in electrical and computer engineering, suffers from T-cell lymphoma.

Guan urgently requires a bone marrow transplant. The surgery has about a two-week time frame to have a chance of being successful, but Aetna refuses to cover the costs unless it is performed through an approved hospital facility, which happens to be in Missouri, said Guan’s wife, Helen Guan. Aetna has not provided a means for Guan to be transported to receive treatment in the Missouri hospital.

Helen never leaves her husband’s side and has been staying at the hospital 24 hours a day, she said. She gave an interview by phone so that she wouldn’t be away from her husband if he needed her.

“He is suffering [throughout] the whole body,” Helen said. “The doctors will try their best, but … everything is getting worse.”

When Guan moves in his bed, his heart rate can increase to between 170 and 190 beats per minute, Helen said. When he wakes, he experiences excruciating pain throughout his body. Many of his body parts no longer function.

During the interview, Guan stirred from his sleep, and his low, agonized groans could be heard over the phone.

“Can you hear him?” Helen said, her voice cracking. She repeated woefully, “Can you hear him?”

OU employees have the option to enroll in either HMO or PPO insurance plans through Aetna, said OU press secretary Blake Rambo.

HMOs only provide benefits when medical care is provided by contracted providers with Aetna, Rambo said. While the OU Medical Center is part of the Aetna HMO network for most procedures, it is not part of the specialty network for bone marrow transplants. For those employees who elect the PPO option, however, OU Medical Center is generally in-network as part of Aetna’s preferred provider network.

Nick Kelly, OU’s assistant director of human resources, said that although he cannot comment on specific individual cases, he knows that Aetna does not refuse to cover bone marrow transplants.

Aetna refuses to pay for a bone marrow transplant at OU Medical Center because the insurance carrier does not have a contract with the hospital facility, Helen said.

Aetna has been unyielding in their decision and Helen said they have not offered to cover travel expenses for the family if they are forced to go to Missouri and stay there while Guan undergoes treatment.

Rachelle Cunningham, Aetna public relations manager for the west and southwest region, said in an e-mail, “When significant travel is required to use an ‘Institutes of Excellence’ facility, the member and a companion may be eligible for travel and lodging allowances if preauthorized by Aetna.”

Cunningham said there is not an “Institute of Excellence,” or facility the insurance carrier shares contracts with, for bone marrow transplants in Oklahoma.

OU officials are trying to work with Aetna on this situation.

“The university is doing everything possible to help, along with the very generous university employees who have donated money and personal sick leave hours to him,” said OU President David L. Boren in a statement. “We will continue to do everything we can to help. The university administration is working aggressively to assure that Aetna considers inclusion of all services of the OU Medical Center within their networks.”

As Guan awaits treatment, his condition continues to deteriorate.

“Dr. Guan is in [a] very dangerous situation now, and some parts of his body have already [died],” stated Jiahui Wang, president of the Society of Chinese Students and Scholars, in an e-mail.

Dayong Zhou, postdoctoral research associate, adjunct instructor, and Guan’s friend, said Guan recently was unconscious for several days.

Despite the difficult and tumultuous circumstances, Helen said her husband remains grateful, saying how thankful he is for the assistance he has received from colleagues, friends and OU students. Helen said that she, her husband and their family, including two daughters and Guan’s brother, who is coming from China to provide support, continue to fight for her husband’s life.

“It’s really hard … but he [can] still fight,” Helen said. “We have hope for the best and try to help him survive.”

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I learned a few moments ago, that Zheng Guan died yesterday.
Aetna helped kill this gentleman, because they refused to pay to transport him to a hospital that would have given him the life saving treatment he needed desperately.