Dr. Daniel Hurley, advocate for health insurance reform, dies at 50

The health care reform movement lost a warrior but his mission will go on.

This will be brief but this is not the last time I’ll be writing about Dr. Dan Hurley. Not by a long shot.

You might recall that we published a story a couple of months ago about Dan and his fight with cancer and his insurance company to get the treatments he and his doctors knew he needed. 

It is with so much sadness to have to write that Dan passed away a few days ago. He was just 50 years old. His wife of 25 years, Traci, reached out to me yesterday to let me know of Dan’s passing. She included this in her email:

Dan was so grateful to have been introduced to you and was happy to be gaining some traction and starting a path to make changes in the insurance arena. It became his passion to bring transparency and accountability to physicians on the insurance side who make decisions that delay or deny care as recommended by the patient’s chosen physician.

Dan was so passionate about his mission that he arranged to talk with me and an attorney friend of mine via Zoom from his hospital bed in Arizona. That was on July 7. His voice was strong, even though he knew he probably didn’t have long to live. 

This is from his obituary: 

While battling his illness, Dan decided to take the LSAT and apply to law school to which he was accepted and granted a scholarship. He completed his first year before he had to defer admission due to his illness. Navigating through the challenges with insurance authorization and denials of his medical care made him passionate about bringing transparency and accountability to medical decision-making (in the health insurance industry).

I gave Dan my word that I would do what I could to help. I just thought we’d have more time to work together. As it turns out, Traci is also a doctor and is just as passionate as Dan was. Probably even more so now. 

In addition to Traci, Dan also leaves behind his parents and three children, Rachel, Sam and Sarah.

Thank you, Dan, for all you did for your patients and were trying to do for all of us. Rest in peace knowing that Traci and I and many others will carry on your fight.