Julie recounts all of the treatments recommended by Tracy's doctors but ultimately denied by their insurance carrier – First Health Coventry – right down to the morphine he so desperately needed in his final days before he died at home.  "This sounds like just another statistic…but it's not.  Tracy was not.  Tracy Pierce was a father of a 14-year-old boy, a brother, a son, a friend, and he was my husband of 16 years!"

In 2007, Julie found out that because the cancer that killed her husband could also be genetic and be carried by their son, she would be wise to have Tracy, Jr., tested for the cancer marker that might indicate the need for aggressive screening in the future.  But even though their insurance carrier had been the subject of intense scrutiny, they still denied the genetic testing for Julie's son.  The testing was eventually done – but only after nurses raised the money need to cover the tests.

Just last week, Julie attended another vigil in Kansas City to remember her husband's death, and to continue the fight she promised Tracy she would never give up. "I never want another family to go through what we went through," Julie said.

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Sponsored by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee

Eighty-two percent of Americans think the U.S. healthcare system should be fundamentally changed or completely rebuilt (Commonwealth Fund, Aug. 7, 2008). America's nurses know that only single-payer, improved and expanded Medicare for all will fix our broken system and the tragedy of our devastated families. HR 676, by U.S. Rep John Conyers, is the most comprehensive, cost effective way to achieve guaranteed healthcare for all.

For more information, or to contact this patient: Liz Jacobs, RN 510/273-2232.

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Today’s Charleston Gazette features an article on a Charleston based medical technology company, Nexeon MedSystems.

Mark Bates, M.D., CEO and interventional cardiologist at CAMC has developed a “pro-healing” stent that is lined with protein. The device called PROTEX system may also eliminate the need for heart patients to take blood thinning medications for a year or more after the procedure. Clinical trials on the device are currently underway in Germany. More information can be found on Nexeon MedSystems’ website.

Quote from the article:

“It’s a protein-lined metal stent that the body thinks is normal artery,” Bates said. “Instead of the body thinking it’s a foreign body, it lines it with normal cells real quickly. It allows the body and arteries to function normally.”

We’re not stopping nature from doing its thing,” said Bates, who heads Nexeon’s offices in Charleston and Carlsbad, Calif. “We’re helping nature. The body doesn’t recognize [the stent] as something that’s not supposed to be there.”

About 65 percent of patients across the country now receive drug-releasing stents during cardiac catheterization procedures to open arteries. The remainder have bare-metal stents placed in their vessels.

Congratulations to Dr. Bates on his creativity and forward thinking to bring better heart care to West Virginians and others around the globe.

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Normally, we strive to keep horn-tooting to a minimum here on the InsureMe Insurance Blog. But we’re going to risk a little immodesty and share some great news with you:

Our parent company, Bankrate.com, just earned a spot (41) on Forbes’ list of the 200 Best Small Companies.

Here’s what Forbes had to say:

Turmoil in the economy is good for Bankrate (No. 41). It provides information on more than 300 financial products, such as mortgages, car loans and money market accounts to consumers. Jittery investors have become addicted to the North Palm Beach, Fla. outfit’s Web site, which features news and advice. Last year 60 million visitors generated 554 million Web page views for the company.

To clarify, Bankrate does not exactly welcome economic turmoil (it was doing quite well when the market was bullish). However, the company does indeed relish the opportunity to help people save money on all kinds of ‘bank rates,’ including rates for things like credit cards, insurance and college loans.

Both Bankrate and InsureMe know that people across the country are struggling to cut fixed costs on things like food, fuel and utilities. People are flocking to sites like InsureMe.com to get, for example, an online auto insurance quote, because insurance is one of those large fixed costs that many people would gleefully pay less for.

Good news is hard to come by these days. The silver lining is that there are services—get ready for more horn-tooting—like Bankrate and InsureMe, which allow people to save money and live a little bit more comfortably.

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"I wasn't going to fight them alone, so I ended up hiring a lawyer and they eventually paid up but it cost me dearly. I lost six weeks of wages when I was off recovering from my injury. Our income is approximately $40,000 a year, and we have two kids in college and a mortgage. It has caused a lot of unnecessary stress both at home and at work. Why is this happening in one of the richest countries in the world? Why aren’t we entitled to guaranteed healthcare?"

Sponsored by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee

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Eighty-two percent of Americans think the U.S. healthcare system should be fundamentally changed or completely rebuilt (Commonwealth Fund, Aug. 7, 2008). America's nurses know that only single-payer, improved and expanded Medicare for all will fix our broken system and the tragedy of our devastated families. HR 676, by U.S. Rep John Conyers, is the most comprehensive, cost effective way to achieve guaranteed healthcare for all.

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Another patron at the Comma Coffee shop talked about how much it would cost to add her husband to her healthcare policy… "It would make my premiums more than $1,000 a month," she told NNOC's Jill Furillo, " So I told him he better not get sick."

Nurses shared their report card for the candidates where they rate Sen. Obama's plan better that Sen. McCain's plan because Obama improves access to care while McCain's plans to tax employer based healthcare benefits and may cause as many as 20 million more people to lose access to coverage and care.

Out on the sidewalks, citizens welcomed the chance to talk with the nurses on a cool fall day when most of the close-by state offices were closed for the holiday.  One young man became angry when he thought the nurses were representing the health care industry — "No, I don't want to talk to you.  i owe the healthcare industry thousands…"  But he stopped and listened when told the nurses are advocating HR676, the National health Insurance Act — single payer healthcare for all.

The road show will undoubtedly bring some surprises — as the nurses take their message far and wide.  But the trust patients feel for nurses clearly softened even the most campaign-message-weary.  Citizens know who speaks the truth and who has a hidden agenda.  And during these last weeks of what has been a two-year long presidential campaign cycle, nurses break through the din of attack ads and economic shell shock with a clear, clean message:  healthcare is a basic human right that we can and should provide one another.  It's in the nation's best interests.

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