The Wall Street Journal has a searing report on a particularly bizarre loophole in Medicaid law: States can, if they so choose, cover only conditions diagnosed at federal cancer-detection centers. That means if the cancer is diagnosed elsewhere, it's not eligible for treatment under Medicaid, even if the individual is. Shirley Loewe, for instance, we diagnosed with a large, deadly tumor in her breast, but diagnosed at the wrong facility. So the coverage she would have qualified for was denied. Instead, she had to fight for charity coverage, which means cutting back her working hours till her income fell below $8,000 -- which meant, in turn, moving from her apartment to a small trailer. The cancer eventually metastasized to her brain, and Loewe moved back in with her daughter who, while trying to seek care from her mother, was told by a social worker, "People die every day waiting for the system to catch up. Why is your mother any different?"
She wasn't, as it turned out. Loewe died earlier this year. She was just another person without insurance, waiting for the system to catch up.
