California Assisted suicide law prompts insurance company to deny coverage to terminally ill woman

Stephanie Packer

Alex Schadenberg

Executive Director - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

The Washington Times reported that the California Assisted-suicide law prompted an insurance company to deny coverage to a terminally ill California woman.

Insurers use assisted suicide law to deny treatment for terminally ill patients.

Bradford Richardson, from the Washington Times reported that Stephanie Packer, a wife and mother of four who was diagnosed with a terminal form of scleroderma, said that her insurance company initially indicated it would pay for her to switch her chemotherapy drug based on the recommendation of her doctors but shortly after the California assisted suicide law went into effect, her insurance company denied her treatment.

Richardson reported Packer as saying:

“And when the law was passed, it was a week later I received a letter in the mail saying they were going to deny coverage for the chemotherapy that we were asking for,” 

She said she called her insurance company to find out why her coverage had been denied. On the call, she also asked whether suicide pills were covered under her plan. 

“And she says, ‘Yes, we do provide that to our patients, and you would only have to pay $1.20 for the medication,’”Mrs. Packer said.

Stephanie Packer believes that legalizing assisted suicide creates an incentive for insurance companies to deny terminally ill people coverage. Packer stated:

“As soon as this law was passed — and you see it everywhere, when these laws are passed — patients fighting for a longer life end up getting denied treatment, because this will always be the cheapest option,” 

Attitude have also changed in her support group:

After the right-to-die movement began garnering national attention, Mrs. Packer said she noticed a change in tone at her support groups for terminally ill patients. While the meetings were formerly positive and encouraging, she said the specter of suicide now hangs above them like a dark cloud. 

“And people, once they became depressed, it became negative, and it started consuming people,” she said in the video. “And then they said, ‘You know what? I wish I could just end it.’ “

Stephanie Parker is not the first person to be denied chemotherapy but offered assisted suicide. Several years ago Barbara Wagner and Randy Stroup, in Oregon, were denied medical treatment but offered assisted suicide.