Insurer relents in Reno girl’s case
RENO -- An insurance company has agreed to let a Reno hospital treat a 5-year-old girl with leukemia rather than force her to travel to Oakland, Calif., for chemotherapy.
Government Employees Health Association, which had balked at the idea, completed the agreement this week so Erica Schneider can receive in-network benefits at Renown Regional Medical Center, GEHA communications manager Karen Schuler said Friday.
The not-for-profit insurer of federal employees initially insisted Schneider's parents use an in-network hospital to receive health benefits with annual out-of-pocket costs capped at $5,000, the closest being Children's Hospital Oakland, a four-hour drive from Reno.
After a story on the dispute was published, GEHA announced it would try to reach an agreement with the Reno hospital.
