John and Christina Feely have lived every parent’s worst nightmare, when their daughter, Selah, was diagnosed with cancer in 2019, and then relapsed this summer of 2022. But now, as though they don’t already have enough to deal with, the hospital where Selah is getting her chemotherapy, St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital which is managed by Baycare, has informed them that in a little over a month, they will no longer accept the family’s insurance unless Baycare can “come to an agreement” with the insurance company, Florida Blue. 

This is the SECOND time the hospital has done this to this family. The first time was six weeks into Selah’s treatment in 2019. Selah began treatment, the hospital accepted her insurance, and then SIX WEEKS into treatment the hospital suddenly decided that they weren’t going to accept her insurance anymore. What was the family supposed to do? Were they supposed to stop treatment now that it was totally unaffordable and let their child die??? Of course not! So instead they continued to bring their child for treatment, despite amassing tens of thousands of dollars worth of bills while they worked on getting a different insurance to take them, which was no easy task.

Fast forward to now: despite finally being able to get a popular and widely accepted insurance in the state of Florida, the family has just gotten a letter informing them that unless Baycare and Florida Blue come to an agreement, Baycare will no longer accept Florida Blue insurance. Selah’s cancer isn’t going to stop growing because a bunch of executives can’t come to an agreement. John and Christina don’t get to push “pause” in their fight for Selah’s life. The family HAS insurance. They pay for insurance so that their daughter will be well taken care of. Selah is mid treatment. As a cancer patient myself who looked into being able to switch chemo providers, I was told that it’s considered a liability to take a patient who starts chemo in different location. So Selah doesn’t have many options. Her oncologist at St. Joseph’s knows her. The nurses who administer her chemo know her. Even IF she could find another Children’s Hospital to take over her care, transferring mid treatment is NOT in her best interest. 

Therefore we ask: 

1. Baycare to “come to an agreement” with Florida Blue to be able to continue accepting that insurance. 
2. If an agreement cannot be reached, we request that Baycare allow Selah and all other Florida Blue patients to finish their treatments without being charged a cent. These patients began treatment with the understanding that Baycare accepted their insurance. Baycare’s sudden decision not to do so should NOT affect their care. 
3. Finally, we ask that Baycare forgive the debt amassed when Baycare suddenly decided not to accept the family’s insurance back in 2019. Again, you can’t change the rules in the middle of the game. Accepting a patient’s insurance and then, once you basically have them as a captive patient, suddenly deciding to not accept their insurance anymore, is not acceptable. It’s Baycare’s fault that the bills were amassed, so no one but Baycare should be on the hook for them.