New Mexico hospital refuses to treat CANCER patients unless they pay thousands up front for lifesaving treatments Have you been forced to pay up front for care? Email us at [email protected] By Cassidy Morrison Senior Health Reporter For Dailymail.Com Published: 17:13 BST, 5 June 2024 | Updated: 17:25 BST, 5 June 2024 e-mail View comments Cancer patients are among the growing number of sick people across the country being asked to fork over thousands of dollars for treatments they hadn't yet received.
Nancy Skinner, 68, and nearly a dozen other cancer patients in Las Cruces, New Mexico , who say they were either denied care or required to pay out of pocket up front , leaving them to scramble for cash or move to another state where affordable care is more accessible. Ms Skinner’s doctor ordered a biopsy in 2022 to assess a growth on her leg, but the Memorial Medical Center denied her insurance and told her she had to pay $2,000 or she would not get a potentially lifesaving procedure. She had to take out a bank loan.
Meanwhile Barbara Quarrell, 62, said that even though she had insurance, the hospital system had changed its policy to help cover the costs of cancer treatments in 2023 and would require her to pay out of pocket up front. Barbara Quarrell's insurance was denied and she was deprived of life-saving treatments for her vaginal cancer. She had to travel hundreds of miles to get affordable care, unable to pay the hefty costs out of pocket Mrs Quarrell [shown right] .
