I can’t save my husband with €22k – but that’s Aviva’s offer
Wife says €200k needed for cancer treatment abroad
A WOMAN whose husband was diagnosed with liver cancer just six weeks ago told of her plight at receiving just a fraction of the money from their insurer to cover potentially life-saving treatment.
Samantha Callaghan’s husband Colm, 47, was told that her childhood sweetheart had hepatocellular carcinoma on May 13.
She said the only treatment option in Ireland was a chemotherapy drug to prolong his life but that a doctor in Canada could save his life with a groundbreaking treatment.
However the mother of two spoke of her agony at receiving an offer of just €22,751 from insurer Aviva to cover the cost of a €140,000 procedure by a specialist in Canada – with the overall bill expected to climb to €200,000 after flights and accommodation are considered. Ms Calla-
‘We’re together since we were 15’
ghan, from Portmarnock, Dublin, said the treatment Colm could avail of has proven to be a success and is ‘the only route to go’ for them.
The Callaghans filled out the necessary paperwork, including a consultant’s letter, to claim for the costs of Colm’s care. She said she was told the procedure in Canada – which lasts 18 hours and involves removing the liver to target complex tumours – would cost €140,000, not including outpatient costs and flights.
However the mother of two spoke of her devastation yesterday after receiving an offer worth €22,751 from Aviva, meaning they would have to come up with the rest of the money themselves. She spoke of her family’s plight on RTÉ’s Liveline yesterday, saying her husband’s condition is deteriorating and he has lost two stone in weight in the six weeks that he has been in hospital.
Ms Callaghan told the show she cannot understand why the insurer won’t cover the full cost of the treatment, as elective overseas referral is a condition included in their policy.
She told the show: ‘We’re together since we were 15 years of age, I love my husband to bits and here I am finding out that he has a chance of life. We have a chance of continuing with our marriage and rearing our two sons, and yet the insurance company are holding us back. Where are we supposed to get the money? Where in God’s name do they think we’ll be able to manage on €22,000, with a bill of over €200,000?’
She said they have a family health plan with Aviva which is around €4,000 and both of her sons are in college. Ms Callaghan told the Mail: ‘It is a terminal disease and without this operation, he is going to die – it’s hard to say but it’s true. The guy in Canada wants to do this, so when he finds a slot, we need to be in that slot but we can’t get into that slot if we don’t have the money.’
In a statement yesterday, Aviva said it recognised that this is a very difficult time for the customer and their family. Its statement added: ‘We must treat all our customers equally and apply the terms and conditions outlined in all our policies. The rules for treatment abroad are clearly outlined in the terms and conditions of the policy.
‘If a customer decides to have treatment abroad that is available in Ireland, we will pay out the same amount that the procedure costs to be done here in Ireland. If it’s a case that procedure is not available in Ireland, we will identify the nearest similar procedure that is covered by Aviva and available here. We will pay out the same amount it would cost to have the procedure or the nearest similar procedure being done here in Ireland. As with all elective overseas treatments approvals, we compare like for like for hospital costs and where possible, we benefit the member the largest amount under our terms and conditions.’