Treatment‑denial story goes viral

A 58-year-old West Virginia father named Eric Tennant spent months trying to get an insurer to approve a liver-tumor treatment his doctors recommended, and by the time coverage was reversed, he was no longer eligible for it. He died on September 17, 2025, and his case surged back into public view this week after the New York Post and other outlets pushed it across social media. (nbcnews.com) (people.com) The treatment was histotripsy, a newer liver procedure that uses focused ultrasound waves to break up targeted tissue without a surgical incision. The United States Food and Drug Administration first cleared HistoSonics’ Edison system for liver treatment in October 2023, which is why the therapy sounded new but was not science fiction. (fda.gov) (histosonics.com) Tennant had cholangiocarcinoma, a bile-duct cancer that had spread through his body after his 2023 diagnosis. In early 2025, his doctors said histotripsy could target the largest tumor in his liver, which gave his family a narrow treatment window and a specific plan. (kffhealthnews.org) (westvirginiawatch.com) Then the paperwork wall went up. UnitedHealthcare, the administrator for West Virginia’s Public Employees Insurance Agency plan, and other reviewers denied the request multiple times as “not medically necessary,” leaving the family facing an out-of-pocket bill of about $50,000. (kffhealthnews.org) (westvirginiawatch.com) This is the part people online instantly recognized: the doctor says go, the insurer says wait, and the clock keeps moving in only one direction. NBC News and KFF Health News reported that Tennant’s approval finally came after a series of denials, but by then his condition had worsened enough that he was no longer a candidate. (nbcnews.com) (kffhealthnews.org) The system behind this is called prior authorization, which means an insurer must sign off before a drug, scan, or procedure gets paid for. In Medicare Advantage alone, insurers handled nearly 53 million prior-authorization requests in 2024 and denied 4.1 million of them, according to KFF. (kff.org) Doctors have been complaining for years that the process delays care even when the medical plan is already clear. In the American Medical Association’s 2024 survey, 94% of physicians said prior authorization delays necessary care, and 29% said it had led to a serious adverse event for a patient in their practice. (ama-assn.org) Regulators have been trying to tighten the rules, but mostly around speed, reporting, and continuity of care. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said in its Medicare Advantage rule that plans can use prior authorization only to confirm diagnoses or medical criteria and must provide a 90-day transition period for patients already in active treatment who switch plans. (cms.gov) Tennant’s death also changed state law. On March 31, 2026, West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey signed House Bill 4965, which lets Public Employees Insurance Agency members move to an alternative treatment of equal or lower cost without starting a brand-new approval fight. (nbcnews.com) (ajmc.com) That is why this story blew up far beyond one family and one claim file. A denial letter that uses the phrase “not medically necessary” can read like routine utilization management inside an insurer, but online it lands as a human story with a face, a date, a dollar figure, and a treatment that came too late. (x.com) (people.com)