Patient Testimonies | February 20, 2025
My name is Marge Wisniewski and I am from Wayne, Michigan. Sarah Wisniewski is my daughter, and every month, in addition to battling her illness, holding down a job, and fighting to get her medications at the drug store timely, she has to worry about whether or not her insurance company is going to pay for her immunotherapy and medical treatments. Some mornings I just don’t know how she gets up and keeps going.
I have spent hours watching her on the phone, just trying to get what she needs to stay alive and protect her quality of life. It is tragic to see the toll it takes on her every month and the way that it eats up precious time she could be spending on better things.
I don’t understand why insurance companies (some of them “non-profit”) can charge exorbitant premiums to employers and to the individuals they cover and still go on to rack up millions in profits and bloated CEO salaries, all while denying care to these individuals! How is this even allowed?
Why are insurance companies permitted to make decisions about her care when the expert medical community has determined what is best for her survival and productivity? Why wouldn’t they want my daughter to remain active and healthy? Then she can continue to participate in the community and hold down a job!
I have another daughter who also has multiple sclerosis (MS), yet her treatment is fully covered by her insurance company, and she has far fewer health issues than Sarah does! She was not forced to go through the agony that Sarah has to endure trying to secure coverage for much needed medical care.
These denials of coverage are based on algorithms and the judgment of individuals who are probably not even medically qualified to review these charts. I would like to know who these physicians are who denied her claim. They can’t be real doctors. If they are, we are in even bigger trouble than we thought. They obviously have no clue about how to “manage care”. And the long-term cost of their denials will eventually catch up with them. We are the wealthiest country in the world, with the most advanced medical care system, yet we refuse to treat the sickest among us.
WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?