""Blue Shield has decided that my father's life is not worth paying for," Jones' daughter Rachel said at a meeting of the San Francisco Health Service Board Thursday afternoon. In the 17 years Jones worked at the fire department, his daughter said Jones never asked if saving lives was too expensive. The city is responsible for negotiating its public servants' health insurance contracts, and the Health Service Board oversees that relationship."
"Among them was Jones' wife, Helen Horvath. Dr. Matthew Gubens, a veteran oncologist at UCSF, had already sent a written appeal to Blue Shield explaining a new treatment plan he'd created for Jones, she wrote after the meeting. Blue Shield told the family the recommended medications would not be covered because Jones had already received other cancer treatments. Time is of the essence, Horvath stressed."
"Jones, 70, has aggressive stage four metastatic lung cancer. A tumor that was once a "pea-sized spot in his neck" has grown to be "egg-sized," and "every delay matters," Horvath told the board. Jones was at a clinic preparing to begin a round of chemotherapy on Wednesday when the family learned that Blue Shield was refusing to pay. Her husband's doctor was "shocked," Horvath added."
A retired San Francisco firefighter, Ken Jones, was diagnosed with cancer last March and faces aggressive stage four metastatic lung cancer. On Jan. 7, Blue Shield of California refused to pay for a recommended treatment plan. A UCSF oncologist submitted a written appeal describing a new plan, but Blue Shield denied coverage because Jones had received prior cancer treatments. Jones' family and other retired firefighters asked the San Francisco Health Service Board to override the insurer's denial. Jones was preparing to start chemotherapy when the refusal was learned. Advocates note other firefighters have struggled to obtain approval for cancer care.
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