“They will pay to kill me, but they will not give me the medication to try and stop the growth of my cancer.”

Barbara Wagner was denied coverage for a cancer treatment that had measurable success in prolonging life and easing cancer-attendant pain. The denial letter from the State Oregon Health Plan stated it would not cover that medication, but it would cover end-of-life care including “physician aid-in-dying.”

Offering assisted suicide as an end-of-life care option while simultaneously denying coverage to patients that could be curative and palliative is abhorrent. This puts undue pressure on patients in already difficult circumstances and incentivizes for-profit insurance companies and budget-starved government insurers to deny coverage.