{"id":15855,"date":"2026-10-02T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/?p=15855"},"modified":"2026-10-02T09:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T09:00:00","slug":"patient-dies-by-suicide-after-insurance-issue-delayed-medicine-for-lung-disease-flare-ups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/?p=15855","title":{"rendered":"Patient Dies by Suicide After \u2018Insurance Issue\u2019 Delayed Medicine for Lung Disease Flare-Ups"},"content":{"rendered":"
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<\/em>If you or someone you know may be experiencing a mental health crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing or texting \u201c988.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

KYLE, Texas \u2014 Kenney Blewett was diagnosed with lung disease more than a decade ago but started experiencing flare-ups this year that made him feel like he couldn\u2019t breathe.<\/p>\n

Blewett described those flare-ups as \u201cthe scariest thing in the world,\u201d said his wife, Cindy, adding that while the episodes typically lasted no more than a few minutes, they had become more frequent.<\/p>\n

On top of that, simple tasks, like taking out the trash, left Blewett winded. He rarely left the house and had recently lost 45 pounds. \u201cThat sounds like cancer,\u201d Cindy remembered one of his doctors said. It was clear, she said, that her husband\u2019s poor health, tied to decades of smoking, was getting worse.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why, on June 2, Blewett\u2019s pulmonologist wrote him a prescription for a new medication to improve the terrifying breathing issues caused by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD. But the prescription wasn\u2019t immediately filled. Two days after that doctor appointment, Blewett received an email from Walgreens explaining that, \u201cdue to an insurance issue that we\u2019re working to resolve,\u201d the medication was delayed.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was hopeful that it would work,\u201d Cindy said of the drug, two months after her husband\u2019s death. \u201cI wish we had the chance to find out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Insurance delays and denials have become an infamous feature of the American healthcare system, with nearly 7 in 10 adults calling them \u201ca major problem,\u201d in a January KFF Health Tracking Poll<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In June 2025, six months after UnitedHealthcare\u2019s CEO was shot in New York, the Trump administration announced a highly publicized industry pledge<\/a>, signed by dozens of major health insurers, to remove some of the barriers that block or delay patients from accessing doctor-recommended care. And yet that pledge was voluntary, and it carries no penalties if companies fail to comply. Indeed, a report published by KFF Health News<\/a> in July found that some insurers that signed the pledge would not implement all the promised initiatives as originally outlined.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tDenied\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>
\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n

Insurers Hedge on Trump-Backed Pledge To Improve Denials Process<\/a><\/h2>\n

Last year, the Trump administration announced a voluntary pledge by dozens of insurers to improve prior authorization, which often requires patients to seek approval before treatments. But prior authorization remains commonplace, and there\u2019s no evidence the government is trying to hold insurers to account.<\/p>\n

By Lauren Sausser<\/a> and Renuka Rayasam<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJuly 17, 2026\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In recent years, lawmakers in most states, including Texas, have attempted to address delays and denials by regulating the insurance industry<\/a> in the absence of substantial federal reform. But most health insurance plans, including traditional Medicare policies and employer-sponsored offerings, which together cover more than half of all Americans, typically aren\u2019t under state jurisdiction.<\/p>\n

Even some medical office staff and pharmacy employees find the patchwork of state and federal insurance rules and regulations confusing, a problem that is poised to become more complicated as artificial intelligence plays a larger role<\/a> in approving and processing claims.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just gotten completely out of hand,\u201d said Matt Toresco, CEO of Arch\u014d, a patient advocacy and consulting company. He argued that patients need more assistance facing insurance hurdles.<\/p>\n

The Blewetts\u2019 story illustrates how navigating these complexities<\/a> remains a herculean task for patients and their caregivers.<\/p>\n

Cindy has sought answers from Medicare; Kenney\u2019s private Part D drug plan; his pulmonologist\u2019s office; and Walgreens. She still has questions about who was responsible for the medication delay and how the holdup could have been prevented.<\/p>\n

If the COPD flare-up Blewett experienced on the afternoon of Sunday, June 7, could have been avoided, she wondered, would he still have chosen to die by suicide that night?<\/p>\n

Kenney Blewett, who was diagnosed with lung disease more than a decade ago, died by suicide in June. The Blewetts celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary earlier this year. (Callie Richmond for KFF Health News)<\/p>\n

\u2018Complex and Convoluted\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

During that first week of June, Cindy said her husband repeatedly asked if his prescription \u2014 a liquid medication meant to be inhaled through the nebulizer machine Kenney owned \u2014 was ready to be picked up from Walgreens.<\/p>\n

Cindy said she wasn\u2019t initially surprised or worried by the delay. Since its acquisition by a private equity firm last year, Walgreens has cut thousands of jobs across the country, according to the Private Equity Stakeholder Project<\/a>. Cindy said in August that their Walgreens pharmacy in Kyle seemed to her to have been understaffed for months, and that prescriptions were being filled more slowly.<\/p>\n

When Cindy called the pharmacy a few days after Kenney\u2019s appointment to find out more about the insurance delay, she said, a Walgreens employee told her the prescription required prior authorization. Also called preapproval or precertification, prior authorization is a practice widely used by health insurers<\/a> that requires medical providers to seek permission before their patients may receive covered treatment.<\/p>\n

But Cindy didn\u2019t know which of Kenney\u2019s insurers required prior authorization for this medication.<\/p>\n

For years, she had helped manage multiple policies on behalf of her husband. Kenney was insured by Medicare parts A and B, the federal health insurance program for people 65 and older or with disabilities. But he also had a private Part D plan to cover drug costs through Wellcare Value Script, as well as a Medicare supplement plan through Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas \u2014 also called a \u201cMedigap\u201d plan \u2014 that paid for other out-of-pocket costs.<\/p>\n

Initially, Cindy assumed that Kenney\u2019s Part D plan had invoked prior authorization for his new medication. But because it was a liquid that is inhaled through a nebulizer machine, this drug was one of relatively few covered by Medicare Part B\u2019s durable medical equipment benefit<\/a>, not Part D.<\/p>\n

The federal government had no record showing that this prescription had been billed to Kenney\u2019s Part B policy, the Medicare agency told Cindy over the phone, she said.<\/p>\n

Sarah Tanner and Myriea Amaya, spokespeople for Centene, Wellcare Value Script\u2019s parent company, would not answer questions for this article.<\/p>\n

After Kenney\u2019s death, when Blewett sought clarification at the Walgreens pharmacy, she said the employee \u201ckept saying different things.\u201d She recalled his explaining that the prescription was submitted to Medicare Part B but without a necessary diagnostic code that the doctor should have included.<\/p>\n

Carmen Lopez, a spokesperson for Walgreens, told KFF Health News in late September that the company \u201ccannot comment on matters involving specific individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Subsequently, Cindy said, a district pharmacy supervisor for Walgreens reached out by phone, and told her the pharmacy tried to process the prescription through Part B on June 2, the same day as the pulmonologist appointment, but that the prescription was missing a diagnostic code from the physician. The supervisor said Walgreens sent a request for that code to the pulmonologist\u2019s office later that day, Cindy recalled.<\/p>\n

Kenney\u2019s pulmonologist \u2014 Rajesh Shetty of LungDocs \u2014 did not respond to phone or email messages from KFF Health News. But Cindy said an employee at the practice told her they did not see a fax from Walgreens asking for a diagnostic code for the prescription.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, it couldn\u2019t have been an issue with Kenney\u2019s Medigap plan, since those policies don\u2019t require<\/a> prior authorization.<\/p>\n

\u201cShort of getting attorneys involved,\u201d Cindy said, \u201cI\u2019m not sure how to find out what really happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cindy Blewett tried to figure out which of her husband\u2019s insurers required prior authorization for his medication. (Callie Richmond for KFF Health News)<\/p>\n

More Red Tape Ahead<\/strong><\/p>\n

Confusion surrounding these Part B and Part D distinctions is common, said Mike Hess, senior director of patient outreach and education at the nonprofit COPD Foundation. \u201cMedicare has gotten to be so complex and convoluted over the years,\u201d he said, that even medical office staff and pharmacy employees often misunderstand the nuances.<\/p>\n

And with the introduction of AI to the preapproval process, navigating insurance hurdles will likely get more complex for Medicare beneficiaries, doctors say.<\/p>\n

Historically, traditional Medicare, unlike Medicare Advantage, used prior authorization sparingly. But in January, Medicare launched a pilot program in six states \u2014 Arizona, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, and Washington \u2014 testing the use of AI<\/a> to preapprove some healthcare services.<\/p>\n

It is intended to \u201croot out waste in Original Medicare,\u201d CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz has said, but physicians and patients say the program is creating more red tape for Medicare beneficiaries and leading to inappropriate denials. The pilot program does not currently impose prior authorization requirements on COPD medications, but industry experts expect the scope of the initiative will grow to include more services and states.<\/p>\n

On the night of June 7, hours after her husband\u2019s last COPD flare-up, Cindy Blewett was sitting on their back porch when she heard a loud noise. She assumed a picture had fallen off the wall in the living room. In fact, it was a gunshot. She discovered Kenney\u2019s body in their bedroom.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t tell you how horrible it was,\u201d Cindy said.<\/p>\n

She said her husband had struggled with his mental health for a long time and had attempted suicide once before, years ago. His deteriorating health only made things worse, she said.<\/p>\n

Kenney confirmed that much in a note he left. He told Cindy that she was a wonderful wife, mother, and grandmother but that his health was too poor to continue living.<\/p>\n

Cindy Blewett keeps an urn of her husband\u2019s ashes. (Callie Richmond for KFF Health News)<\/p>\n

A second COPD medication, which his pulmonologist ordered directly from the drug manufacturer during the June 2 appointment, arrived several weeks after Kenney\u2019s suicide, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPerhaps, just perhaps,\u201d Cindy said, \u201cif he had received both medications in a timely manner, he would be here today, and we would have had many more years together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do you have an experience with prior authorization you\u2019d like to share? <\/em>Click here<\/em><\/a> to tell KFF Health News your story.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

KFF Health News<\/a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF\u2014an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

This article<\/a> first appeared on KFF Health News<\/a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you or someone you know may be experiencing a mental health crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing or texting \u201c988.\u201d KYLE, Texas \u2014 Kenney Blewett was diagnosed with lung disease more than a decade ago but started experiencing flare-ups this year that made him feel like he couldn\u2019t breathe. Blewett…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":15856,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15855"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15855"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15855\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}