An insurance policy from Cigna Health Care proved worthelss

Nataline Sarkisyan is dead. Who killed her?

Mark Geragos, her family's lawyer wants the Los Angeles DA to press murder or manslaughter charges against Cigna HealthCare. He argues the firm "maliciously killed" Nataline Sarkisyan by its reluctance to pay for her treatment.

The health insurer refused to pay for a liver transplant until hours before and she died on Thursday night. This case perfectly illustrates the disgrace that is the US healthcare regime in a nutshell. It's a system that puts corporate profits ahead of sound medical practice. The Guardian reports:

Although she was fully insured and had a matching donor, Cigna refused to pay on the grounds that her healthcare plan "does not cover experimental, investigational and unproven services".

Cigna's rejection on December 11 led Sarkisyan's doctors at UCLA medical centre, including the head of its transplant unit, to write a letter to protest that the treatment which they proposed was neither experimental nor unproven. They called on the firm to urgently review its decision.

American's health insurance system is stressful for patients -- especially if you have health insurance. It's also stressful for physicians. They waste time on paperwork like the letters they wrote on Nataline's behalf. These world class doctors might have been treating other patients, but instead they had to waste time arguing with some idiotic manager at the HMO -- Cigna HeathCare. The system forces them to write letters in which they must explain the fine points of medicine. They must justify your treatment to insurance company clerks. These overworked and underpaid insurance company clerks then second-guess the expert opinion of top surgeons. No wonder the US has the most expensive healthcare in the world!

What can Americans do to ensure there will be no more patients like Nataline Sarkisyan?

It's no use petitioning Cigna. The problem here is systemic. It's not confined to Cigna. There are thousands of Nataline Sarkisyans, but you don't read about them becuase they are the age of your parents or grandparents. Any solution must be political.

The answer is to support Senator John Edward's campaign for the presidency of the United States. He is the only candidate who talks about taking on the big insurance companies. Moreover, the man has a decent shot at winning his party's nomination. Somebody at his campaign HQ is already blogging about the Nataline Sarkisyan case.

Back in August I wrote about Edwards at Jotman.com. There you can read why I think Edwards -- like no other candidate in the Democratic Party -- understands the underlying problem facing the United States. Edwards is fighting for something larger than his political career.

Photo: An ad for Michael Moore's documentary Sicko. Cigna HealthCare was featured in the documentary.