By Bruce Watson
Filed under: Health Insurance, People, Saving
On Friday, 32-year old graduate student Arijit Guha died of colon cancer. Guha came to national attention in 2012 through “Poopstrong,” his website and Twitter account, which documented his ongoing battle with cancer — and with Aetna, his insurance company.
In 2011, Guha was diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer and immediately began to undergo treatment. Unfortunately, his health insurance, which he purchased through his university, placed a $300,000 lifetime cap on his policy. When he reached that limit, Guha found himself caught in a life-or-death battle with Aetna — and in a desperate struggle to raise the money he needed for treatment.
Through “Poopstrong,” Guha told about his fight with Aetna. The story, which highlighted some of the flaws of the public health system, quickly drew attention. Eventually, following a face-to-face Twitter exchange, the company’s CEO, Mark T. Bertolini, agreed to cover the student’s bills. Within months, Guha’s health had improved enough for him to go off chemotherapy. Last fall, however, his cancer returned and his health quickly deteriorated.
On January 1, 2014, Obamacare’s spending cap and pre-existing conditions provisions will be enacted, effectively making it illegal for companies like Aetna to refuse coverage to patients like Guha.
Below is a reprint of our original story on Arijit Guha.
There’s nothing new about using social media to battle big businesses: For years, the media has trumpeted stories of angry customers who voiced their gripes on social networks, often with great results. Recently, however, an Arizona cancer patient went to unusual lengths in his social media campaign, using Twitter and Facebook to engage the CEO of one of America’s biggest insurance companies in a dialog about America’s health care system — and his own troubles within it.
In the end, he emerged victorious: His insurance company, which had previously denied him coverage for his expensive treatments, agreed to pay the bills.
In February 2011, Arijit Guha, a 30-year-old graduate student at Arizona State University, returned from a trip to India with a recurring pain in his abdomen. Convinced that he had picked up “a stomach bug,” he went to the hospital, where he underwent extensive tests. The ultimate diagnosis: Stage IV colon cancer, which had spread to his gall bladder, lymph nodes and abdominal lining.
A Brief Respite
Luckily, Guha was insured: When he enrolled at Arizona State, he signed up for the university’s health insurance program, which was underwritten by Aetna (AET) — in fact, he paid extra to sign his wife up for coverage, too. But less than a year into his battle with cancer, Aetna let him know that he was going to have to …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance