http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/08/12/life-saving-transplant-denied-and-health-insurance-canceled-over-26-cent-shortfall/
Twenty-six cents almost cost Sergio Branco his life.
Twenty-six cents.
Most of us could scrape that up from under our couch cushions or on the floor of a car.
Sergio Branco has 26 cents, too. The question was whether or not he would be permitted to pay it.
i'm writing this before reading the rest, not to equate my experience as equal in any way, in 1990 i patonized to sprint cell service, i happened to be downtown thought i would stop in and pay my bill i remembered it was 50.00 and some cents couldn't remember what the cents was so i payed 50. bucks.
couple of hours later my phone went dead, i called when i got home it seems i left out the .17 cents, they said they were sorry and there wa nothing they could do as the "computer" shuts down service if it's not payed completely. i only see sprint now on tv commecials.
"He complained about bone pains and being extremely fatigued," Marujo said. "He decided to go to the emergency room."
The Edison man underwent several tests, which indicated he had a very weak immune system. It could be leukemia, the doctors said.
A few days later, a bone marrow test confirmed the diagnosis: acute myeloid leukemia. The disease, left untreated, travels fast and can kill within months, or even weeks, of diagnosis.
and now comes the double wamy of insurance and reality.
Branco started a series of treatments including chemotherapy and transfusions, and he took three months off from work under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).Doctors soon said he’d need a bone marrow transplant to prolong his life. They found a 10-point match — the best possible match. The transplant and related care for the disease would cost more than $500,000.Good thing the family had health insurance through Branco’s job, they thought.But when his three-month leave under FMLA ended, Russell Reid fired him, Branco’s family said.At least they’d be able to continue health insurance coverage through COBRA, short for the Consolidated Omnibus Reconciliation Act. Under COBRA, a terminated employee can continue the same health insurance coverage he had while employed, but the terminated employee is responsible for paying the full premium.Branco was fired on April 30, so he had until June 30 to decide whether or not he wanted COBRA. After that, the payments would be due. The Brancos received a notification letter, dated May 1, which said so.The cost would be $518.26 per month.So on or about May 24, Mara Branco filled out the paperwork and mailed a check to Paychex for the first month of coverage.She wrote the check, dated May 24, for an even $518, inadvertently missing the 26 cents.Paychex cashed the check on June 11.The family thought all was well, and Branco continued to receive treatment. But later in June, the hospital told Branco he didn’t have insurance coverage.That’s when she was told for the first time that the payment was 26 cents short. Paychex didn’t offer an option to bring the payment up-to-date, Mara Branco said."They’re playing with my husband’s life," she said.Mara Branco noted they were still well before the payment deadline, but she said Paychex told her it was instructed by Russell Reid not to accept any more payments from the Brancos.
CHANGE OF HEART
Then things changed late Friday."The Department of Labor said the company will reinstate him from May till now," a relieved Mara Branco said. "They said the company did it wrong. I am super happy. It’s like a weight has lifted off my shoulder. It’s better than winning the lottery."Branco said Paychex told her she could mail payments for May, June and July and she would receive more paperwork about the August payment.
or fear of bad publicity and court would make clients skeptical about their own coverage and create a avalanche of leaving clients.
