Casey Andrews

I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2022. I immediately knew I wanted to be seen at Fred Hutch. This is also a story of the horrors of the American health insurance industry.

The first thing I did was call my insurance provider to verify I was covered at the Cancer Center. I was told I was, due to my plan being part of their PPO. I scheduled an appointment and off to Seattle I went. The team there was wonderful, and I very much felt that I was in good hands. We scheduled my surgery for a couple of weeks out, and I began to make preparations.

When it came time for my surgery, I traveled back to Seattle (I was living in Boise at the time) and had a long-stay room arranged for my recovery with my parents. The day before my surgery, I was wandering around the University District doing some shopping when I got a call from the billing department at the Cancer Center. After much back and forth, my insurance company had decided they were covering nothing. NOTHING.

I was then informed that there had been dozens of these interactions, with my insurance company constantly flip-flopping on what was covered, if anything at all. They told me some days the surgery was partially covered, then completely covered, then just the right breast (which is illegal), then only a completely different kind of surgery.

I was on the phone with a wonderful woman until 7pm that evening trying to sort through everything. She said she had the information she needed, but the people who could help were already home for the day and we would touch base first thing in the morning. Mind you, my surgery was still scheduled for 9am.

At 8am, I was walking to the surgery center when I got a call from her — my insurance company was on the line as well. They were refusing to cover my cancer surgery, after repeatedly sending approvals to the surgery and billing teams. The team at Fred Hutch told me they would absolutely be able to fight it and get it covered, but not in time for my surgery that day. So, standing in the check-in lobby for a life-altering surgery, I had to cancel.

To say it was devastating is an understatement. I still desperately needed this surgery. This treatment was literally life or death for me. How could an insurance company deny saving my life?
I was forced to have my procedure done in Boise, which was fine — the surgeon there was wonderful — but everything was delayed by over a month.

I then attempted to pursue legal action against my insurance provider. The team at Fred Hutch was very helpful in providing statements and records documenting the inconsistencies of my insurance company. Someone from their coverage department sent a written testimony stating they had never seen anything so confusing or poorly handled.

In the end, I was not able to pursue legal action. It was essentially written into my coverage agreement that they were not held liable for lying to my care teams or me.
I will never forget, however, how the team at Fred Hutch went to bat for me and did everything they could to help.

I am also the owner of Fairhaven Web Design, and I partnered with Eric to design and develop this website to help cure cancer! Knowing firsthand the terror that is a diagnosis, we want to help save lives and people’s sanity.