Four cases that reached national reporting. Each entry links to the original coverage.
Eric Tennant, 58
Bridgeport, WV
“Not medically necessary.” Then he was too sick.
A mining-safety instructor with stage 4 bile-duct cancer. His oncologist wanted histotripsy — ultrasound to hit a liver tumor, about $50,000, already cheaper than the chemo the plan had approved. West Virginia’s public-employee plan and UnitedHealthcare called it experimental. They reversed after KFF and NBC started asking questions. Within a week he was in the hospital. By midsummer he was no longer a candidate. He died on hospice on 17 Sep 2025. The legislature later passed a prior-auth bill because of this case. Unanimous.
“The insurance company’s decision did not simply delay care. It closed doors.”Becky Tennant, his wife
$50,000 procedure. Denied, then reversed, then useless.
Deron Wells, 59
Santa Monica, CA
Cigna said no while he was packing for the transplant.
Stage 4 lung cancer. Doctors at Northwestern had a clinical double-lung transplant. Cigna had approved the pieces that looked like a transfer — then denied the transplant and the airlift as he was leaving UCLA Santa Monica. Not standard for lung cancer. No clinical trials. The story went viral. The independent review reversed it. He was intubated for the flight to Chicago, listed, even got a donor call. His body could not take the surgery. He died 6 Jun 2025. The GoFundMe that was supposed to buy the operation now pays for the funeral.
“We’re not just a number. We are talking about his life.”Janet Savarimuthu, his wife
Friends asked the public for $1.5 million. Insurance had already been paid to cover this.
Keaton Herzer
United States
An OB/GYN on the review desk called cancer drugs unnecessary.
Rare bile-duct cancer. Cigna denied targeted therapy as “not medically necessary.” Scripps reviewed the denial: the reviewing physician’s specialty was listed as obstetrics and gynecology. The family paid more than $150,000 out of pocket rather than wait through another chemo loop. His wife posted on LinkedIn. Approvals arrived in days. Then Cigna denied the liver transplant. Same play: post, go viral, approval. He is alive. The lesson he is selling is ugly: the appeals process is a weapon unless you can make it public.
“Fight them. Because chances are, you’re gonna win.”Keaton Herzer
$150,000+ paid while the denial sat on a desk.
Stanford patient (USA Today)
California
Nonprofit hospital. Charity care. Denied twice.
Flown for specialized care. Applied twice to Stanford Health Care for financial assistance. Denied. The family was looking at GoFundMe or bankruptcy — the two American products that exist where a bill should be. Dollar For, a nonprofit that files charity-care paperwork, got the hospital to listen. Federal law already requires nonprofit hospitals to run these programs. Most patients never hear of them. That is not an accident. It is a collection strategy with a 501(c)(3) letterhead.
Charity care that only moved after a third party filed the forms.