Widow Takes Health Care Fight To Capitol Hill Pierce's Story Featured In Movie 'Sicko'
UPDATED: 1:37 pm CDT July 17, 2007
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The widow of a man who lost his battle with kidney cancer and his health-care provider is taking that fight to a larger stage. Tracy Pierce died in February 2006. His family said his battle to beat cancer was not a fair fight because despite being fully insured, Pierce's insurance provider refused to pay for many of the treatments prescribed by his doctor, saying they were experimental or not a medical necessity. In the end, Pierce's family called it "death by denial." "I just can't believe you've got this insurance company that's just willing to let you die," said Tracy Pierce's wife, Julie. KMBC's Jim Flink started following Tracy Pierce's story two years ago, documenting Pierce's fight against kidney cancer and against an insurance provider, which rejected many of the treatments Pierce's doctor requested. "I just hope we can get something done about this. I'm not done with this," Tracy Pierce said in his final interview. Flink reported that Pierce died an hour and a half after giving the interview. Flink's news report spawned a firestorm of interest. Julie Pierce was contacted by documentary filmmaker Michael Moore. Moore said the Pierces' situation is part of a national trend. In his documentary "Sicko," Moore lays out the argument that profit and health care do not mix. "The thinking of how we can make money off the patient is all wrong. It should be how can we make the patient well," Moore said in his film. The movie gave Julie Pierce a voice and a stage. "It made me feel that I wasn't alone, that there were other people out there willing to stand up," Pierce said. National notoriety has brought a bigger platform after the movie's release. Julie Pierce was called to Capitol Hill to testify before Congress. "We were fully insured through my employer St. Joseph Medical Center," Pierce told lawmakers. "I was talking to Congressman Conyers and he was saying he didn't realize the people he worked with every day had a story to tell until that hearing," Pierce said. Flink reported that the movie has released some demons for Pierce and it has unleashed a new fight to educate, inform and carry the spirit of her husband's life as a legacy. "It's important to look at your health plan. It's important to get checkups. It's important not to put anything off. I don't care if it's a pain in your pinky finger because it might be something," Pierce said. But Pierce's fight against both her employer and her insurance policy administrator continue. Coventry released this statement July 16: "Dealing with terminal illness and end of life treatment is one of the most difficult things a family can go through and Coventry strives to help all its members manage through that process in the most effective and compassionate way possible. "First Health, owned by Coventry, was the third-party administrator of the health plan offered by Carondelet Health. St. Joseph Medical Center, part of Carondelet Health and Julie Pierce's employer, was the provider of the health insurance for both Julie Pierce and her husband, Tracy. The health insurance provided by St. Joseph Medical Center was self-funded. "As with any self-funded employer, benefits are established by, and final determinations are made by, the employer. As part of the contractual obligations with Carondelet, First Health, as the third-party administrator, was contractually bound by the coverage decisions set forth by Carondelet." St. Joseph Medical Center's CEO Gordon Docking released this statement: "Tracy Pierce's situation has saddened all of us at St. Joseph Medical Center. We continue to keep his family in our thoughts and prayers. "St. Joseph Medical Center was never contacted by Michael Moore or anyone associated with the filming or production of the movie "Sicko" for participation in the segment where the medical center is involved. The film does not accurately reflect all that was done in this complex matter or the many people who were involved. "Due to extensive state and federal privacy laws, we are unable to speak directly to Tracy Pierce's situation. We would, however, point out that the processes we employ with respect to decisions regarding coverage within our health plan is not dissimilar to those of other health plans. In certain situations, the process includes an independent third-party physician review. "The St. Joseph Medical Center Foundation was established to provide support to our various missions, to meet growing community needs, and to address the gaps created in our health care system. In May 2005, The Tracy Pierce Fund was established through the St. Joseph Medical Center Foundation to assist the Pierce family. In addition to the foundation providing funds, many employees contributed." Pierce vows to fight on. "I just hope that what I'm doing is helping other people because it's not going to bring Tracy back. I'll never see him again here on Earth," Pierce told Flink. On The Internet:
Summary: With a Kansas City hospital being featured prominently in Michael Moore's controversial new documentary "Sicko," it is somewhat surprising that movie reviewers including Robert Butler of the Kansas City Star overlooked this completely. Business columnist Julius Karash was the first to discuss the story (LINK).
Where did Michael Moore learn about the story of Julie and Tracey Pierce that he featured in his movie "Sicko?" From an absolutely riveting piece done on the plight of the couple by Jim Flink of KMBC-TV9 in May 2006. Within two hours of the interview Tracey Pierce died. Link to original story:
ST. JOSEPH HEALTH CENTER SKEWERED IN MICHAEL MOORE'S 'SICKO' MOVIE
One of the first questions often asked by a journalist is: "What does this mean to my readers?" Often reporters search long and hard for a "local" angle to a story. With that in mind it seems odd that Kansas City Star movie reviewer Robert Butler seemed to have overlooked that one of the main places examined in Michael Moore's new movie "Sicko" is none other than St. Joseph's Health Center. The Center denied coverage for Tracy Pierce's husband, who then died of kidney cancer. (She was employed there at the time and the Center's carrier, Coventry Healthcare, said her husband's treatment was considered "experimental.") Interesting enough, while Butler (and a second reviewer) in the Star avoided mentioning the hospital or the Kansas family's story, it was part of the lead in a story in the Pittsburgh (PA) Post-Gazette and in the Huffington Post:
Friday, June 29, 2007 By Barbara Vancheri, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Yes, Michael Moore goes to Cuba in "Sicko," with some 9/11 rescue workers in tow. But he also goes into the living room of a Kansas woman named Julie Pierce. Her 37-year-old husband, Tracy Pierce, died of kidney cancer in January 2006. It wasn't that the couple had no insurance. They did. It wasn't that his doctor failed to recommend a bone marrow transplant. He did. It wasn't that Tracy lacked a compatible donor. A younger brother was an excellent match, tests showed. It was that their insurance company said no to the transplant, arguing it was experimental. Appeals failed and Tracy Pierce went into the couple's bathroom, closed the door and cried. "I can see now that I'm going to die," he told his wife, mother of their teenage son...
Rose Ann DeMoro is executive director of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC) in Huffington Post (6/28):
"...Or he could have been talking about Julie Pierce, who works in a hospital intensive care unit whose insurance company and her employer refused to pay for a life saving bone marrow transplant for her husband because they deemed it "experimental." "For America's nurses, Donna and Larry Smith, Julie Pierce, or the other families and patients depicted in such heart-rending fashion in SiCKO are not mere anecdotes or abstractions. They are the life and every day experience of nurses who must continually battle to get patients the appropriate medical care, respect, and dignity all of us deserve."
FROM JACK POESSINGER: Local movie reviewer Jack Poessinger, who has done his "Jack Goes to the Movies" program for years on a number of radio (and TV) stations, told us, "I did not go off as positive about the movie as Butler. I am not even sure it is a documentary because it is so one-sided. "However, for the record, I did include all the St. Joseph Health Center information in all my reviews," he added.
