Righting A Wrong

Kaitlin (center) with her parents before surgery.

It's still happening. Even when a family obtains decent health insurance coverage, they can still be denied payment just because. It's a costly (for families) mistake that insurance companies make when they put bureaucrats with no medical training in charge of paying for treatment. In the effort to save some bucks, the insurance companies deny payment for definitive treatment for a medical condition. And I bet I know what they told this family.

Little Kaitlin Nguyen, who is now three years old, was born with a lymphatic malformation that caused a large facial deformity. This condition prevented young Kaitlin from eating and drinking normally. Dr. Gregory Levitin, director of the VASCULAR BIRTHMARK CENTER at Mount Sinai Roosevelt Medical Center in New York, determined that surgery was needed to repair the malformation and allow Kaitlin to live a more normal life. But that surgery was expensive and the insurance company denied payment for it. Likely, the reason was probably that they decided to consider the procedure cosmetic, sort of like plastic surgeries done for vanity's sake. They couldn't have been more wrong and only showed themselves to be entirely heartless.



The family went ahead with the surgery and an anonymous donor, who was waiting in the wings, just for a worthy case like this, came forward to pay for the care. Dr. Levitin had known the donor, who had previously helped another patient with expenses, so he was ready and willing to support the Nguyens.

Dr. Levitin points out, "These are people who would have fallen through the cracks and wouldn't have gotten the treatment otherwise." That would have meant a lifetime of suffering for young Kaitlin, suffering which did not have to happen. Not every surgery is something to look for a technicality in order to avoid paying for it. Very few scam insurance companies to pay for unneeded treatment. Instead of addressing a patient's needs as a piece of paperwork from people out to milk everything they can from an insurance company, it behooves these bureaucrats to walk a mile in the shoes of their customers, who are in need of care. People shouldn't have to become adversarial or miss the opportunity to treat their conditions because of greedy insurance operators. They shouldn't have to wait for someone to decide to provide the funding from the generosity of his/her heart.

I'm not trying to say this donor shouldn't have stepped up. As a matter of fact, it is because of this person that a little girl will be able to have a more normal life, and that donor is to be commended. As Dr. Levitin said, "This was a real game-changer operation. It is my expectation that she will be just like any other 3-year-old girl who walks down the street with beautiful brown eyes and a cheery smile."

Dr. Gregory Levitin, who performed the surgery.

Thanks to this article from Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/08/anonymous-donor-facial-deformity_n_7026346.html?cps=gravity_2082_8024598263993422148.

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