***Alert: Aetna agrees to do the right
thing. Read
NY Times piece
***Donations still welcome to help cover
other expenses. Help Benjy's family by donating
here.
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"Dear Aetna: Don't abandon Benjy"
In
March, 2005, Benjy (Benjamin Vincent Margulies) was diagnosed with Tay Sachs
-- a disease that had historically been 100% fatal. The family was stunned and completely devastated. Then a ray of hope appeared -
Benjy's parents (Elizabeth and Josh Margulies) found Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg, a world-renowned physician who
was pioneering the use of stem cell therapy (using cord blood)
to treat children with Tay Sachs and related metabolic diseases.
Benjy underwent weeks of grueling exams and tests to determine his candidacy for the transplant.
Once Benjy was deemed a good candidate, Aetna gave them the go-ahead
-- agreeing to pay for the treatment. The family was
ecstatic, and publicly praised Aetna.
Benjy spent many months in the hospital following the initial treatment, an
extremely difficult procedure that included chemotherapy.
But in the end, it was worth it. Benjy not only halted the
progress of the disease -- he began to reverse its impact.
Through months of physical, speech and occupational therapy, he
began to start showing great progress.
Suddenly, in the spring of 2006, lower level Aetna officials advised
the family that they would no longer pay for
Benjy's nurse or therapists. An initial appeal was denied by a panel whose
members apparently know little about the new, successful
treatments. To make matters worse, the same day the appeal was denied, Elizabeth received notice that
Aetna had actually decided to increase her monthly health premium.
Aetna is now reviewing this decision at highest level. Please take a minute, and help Benjy by writing
a letter to Ronald A. Williams, the President and CEO of
Aetna. Thank him for agreeing to review this -- and ask Mr. Williams to
do the right thing, and reverse the earlier decision. Ask Mr.
Williams to stand by Aetna's "Legacy of Caring."
Ask Mr. Williams: Don't Abandon
Benjy.
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