After a busy day yesterday and falling asleep early on the couch, I only have time for a quick take today. So file this under “only in America”:
A 23-year-old Metro Detroit man robbed a South Lyon credit union earlier this month for his daughter, he told investigators according to South Lyon Police Lt. Chris Sovik.
Brian Randolph, who is currently jailed on a $500,000 bond and facing up to life in prison for robbery of a banking institution, told detectives he recently lost insurance coverage necessary to pay for cancer treatment his daughter required, Sovic said.
Randolph said his daughter had a tumor behind her eye.
Randolph told police that his insurance company was no longer paying for his daughter’s chemotherapy treatments and that he robbed the credit union in a last-ditch attempt to find a way to pay for her treatments, according to South Lyon Public Information Officer Lieutenant Christopher Sovik.
Randolph’s family, including the mother of his 1-year-old daughter, told local ABC affiliate WXYZ-TV that they think he was desperately trying to get money before his daughter’s upcoming chemotherapy treatment. Asia Dupree, Randolph’s girlfriend and mother of their 1-year-old daughter, told WXYZ-TV that their daughter Brialynn has retinoblastoma, a cancer that forms in the eye.
“I guess it was desperation. Time was ticking right before her appointment came up,” Dupree told WXYZ-TV.
See also:
I did a freeze frame when the story briefly showed a shot of the insurance denial letter, which states the reason for suspending insurance was that Randolph didn’t return the determination form asking for documentation. Listed on the form are the BAM 105, 130, and 210 forms. These are State of Michigan forms, which makes me think that the child was almost certainly receiving Medicaid or be on the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Medicaid and CHIP in Michigan requires a redetermination of eligibility every year. Of course, given the complexity of the applications, it’s not too hard to imagine someone not understanding a request, filling it out wrong, or other “snafus,” as described in the news reports. It also makes me wonder which hospital his daughter was being treated at. The pediatric hospitals in this area are usually quite good at working with parents to help them apply for Medicaid or CHIP and to make sure their children stay insured.
There was one story that cast doubt on the father’s stated motive, noting that the police found a “Gucci bag, several high-end clothing items and a pair of shoes, most of which were newly purchased.” However, his story was also corroborated by family members; so it remains unclear. Whether the father’s motive really was to pay for chemotherapy for his daughter or not (and I suspect that it was a prime factor), what does remain clear is the plausibility of the story. People believe that a father would rob a bank to pay for chemotherapy for his daughter because they want to believe it, because they know about government paperwork and how easy it is for a person to miss a form or to fail to dot every “i” and cross every “t,” and, above all, because they know that in the U.S., even after Obamacare, there are still too many people without health insurance for whom cancer treatment can result in financial catastrophe. Even if Randolph’s motivation turns out not to have been what he is claiming now, this story strikes a chord precisely because it is so damned easy to believe.
In one story, a police officer blithely says, “But there are lots of fathers whose daughters have cancer as well, and you don’t see them out there robbing banks all the time.” True enough, but putting it that way dismisses the desperation that having a child with cancer whose treatment you can no longer pay for can produce.
from ScienceBlogs http://ift.tt/1WUp3Sy
After a busy day yesterday and falling asleep early on the couch, I only have time for a quick take today. So file this under “only in America”:
A 23-year-old Metro Detroit man robbed a South Lyon credit union earlier this month for his daughter, he told investigators according to South Lyon Police Lt. Chris Sovik.
Brian Randolph, who is currently jailed on a $500,000 bond and facing up to life in prison for robbery of a banking institution, told detectives he recently lost insurance coverage necessary to pay for cancer treatment his daughter required, Sovic said.
Randolph said his daughter had a tumor behind her eye.
Randolph told police that his insurance company was no longer paying for his daughter’s chemotherapy treatments and that he robbed the credit union in a last-ditch attempt to find a way to pay for her treatments, according to South Lyon Public Information Officer Lieutenant Christopher Sovik.
Randolph’s family, including the mother of his 1-year-old daughter, told local ABC affiliate WXYZ-TV that they think he was desperately trying to get money before his daughter’s upcoming chemotherapy treatment. Asia Dupree, Randolph’s girlfriend and mother of their 1-year-old daughter, told WXYZ-TV that their daughter Brialynn has retinoblastoma, a cancer that forms in the eye.
“I guess it was desperation. Time was ticking right before her appointment came up,” Dupree told WXYZ-TV.
See also:
I did a freeze frame when the story briefly showed a shot of the insurance denial letter, which states the reason for suspending insurance was that Randolph didn’t return the determination form asking for documentation. Listed on the form are the BAM 105, 130, and 210 forms. These are State of Michigan forms, which makes me think that the child was almost certainly receiving Medicaid or be on the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Medicaid and CHIP in Michigan requires a redetermination of eligibility every year. Of course, given the complexity of the applications, it’s not too hard to imagine someone not understanding a request, filling it out wrong, or other “snafus,” as described in the news reports. It also makes me wonder which hospital his daughter was being treated at. The pediatric hospitals in this area are usually quite good at working with parents to help them apply for Medicaid or CHIP and to make sure their children stay insured.
There was one story that cast doubt on the father’s stated motive, noting that the police found a “Gucci bag, several high-end clothing items and a pair of shoes, most of which were newly purchased.” However, his story was also corroborated by family members; so it remains unclear. Whether the father’s motive really was to pay for chemotherapy for his daughter or not (and I suspect that it was a prime factor), what does remain clear is the plausibility of the story. People believe that a father would rob a bank to pay for chemotherapy for his daughter because they want to believe it, because they know about government paperwork and how easy it is for a person to miss a form or to fail to dot every “i” and cross every “t,” and, above all, because they know that in the U.S., even after Obamacare, there are still too many people without health insurance for whom cancer treatment can result in financial catastrophe. Even if Randolph’s motivation turns out not to have been what he is claiming now, this story strikes a chord precisely because it is so damned easy to believe.
In one story, a police officer blithely says, “But there are lots of fathers whose daughters have cancer as well, and you don’t see them out there robbing banks all the time.” True enough, but putting it that way dismisses the desperation that having a child with cancer whose treatment you can no longer pay for can produce.
from ScienceBlogs http://ift.tt/1WUp3Sy
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire