.@Cigna health insurance denying Georgia child the ability to hear

The same transnational, big-profit health insurance corporation that killed Nataline Sarkisyan is at it again: this time denying a young Georgia girl, Nicole, the ability to hear.

Yes, yes, yes: I know you're probably tired of Change.org petitions, but when health insurance nightmares like the ones perpetuated on a daily basis by Cigna strike, parents truly have nowhere else to turn than the Internet. In the United States, medically-necessary health care is sometimes only delivered when mega-corporations have been sufficiently embarrassed in the public sphere. So, first, please do sign and share this petition. (Even if you disagree with Change.org and its policies, the reality is that big numbers here do awaken the mainstream media from its slumber.)

Let's look at Nicole's case through the words of her father:

My daughter Nicole was born with several health issues. In her first four months of life she had three bowel surgeries, one heart surgery, bacterial meningitis, and we learned that she would need a liver transplant. We also learned that Nikki suffered from undetermined hearing loss, however during that time the doctors and her family was focused on life saving procedures. Nikki is now three years old (almost 4) and she has neuropathy in her left ear and has been pronounced profound deaf in her right ear.

We have been fortunate to be able to send Nikki to the Atlanta Speech School, which has worked wonders with her speech ability. However, her speech pathologist, therapist, teachers, and doctor have determined that Nikki has reached a plateau and will not likely improve in her speech or hearing abilities. Based on her doctor recommendation along with the advisors at the speech school, we requested Cigna (my employer provided insurance) to cover the cost of the cochlear implant. Cigna denied to cover the implant based on information provided and we appealed.

The initial reason Cigna denied coverage was stated that Nikki’s hearing loss was not significant enough and she had not utilized hearing aids for at least a three-month period. During the appeal Cigna was informed that Nikki had in fact utilized hearing aids in both ears for more than two years, and her deafness was far greater than what Cigna required. Cigna denied our appeal for coverage stating that they felt that Nikki was progressing or could progress with further use of hearing aids. Due to Nikki being immune suppressed it is difficult to keep her healthy long enough to have a surgery, (she has had at least 8 pneumonia infections in the last year and a half). We have her scheduled to receive the implant at the end of July, however without coverage Nikki will not be able to receive the implant.

Nikki is now three years old and has overcome so much adversity in her young life. According to the rules she is “disabled”, but with the cochlear implants that would enable her to hear she would no longer be “disabled”.

As Wendell Potter -- a Cigna whistleblower -- has told America before, for-profit health insurance companies only pay out for major procedures when people shout loudly. He says patients denied health care need to be a "squeaky wheel."

Can we, the Daily Kos community, be a collective "squeaky wheel" for Nicole? Many thanks for your support.