Hope, Then Heartbreak: Cigna Denies Life-Saving Transplant at the Last Minute

Even with insurance, Deron Wells’ critical transplant was halted at the eleventh hour.

Imagine for a moment that you’re Deron Wells — a 59-year-old husband, father of three, and once-healthy man now fighting for his life with stage 4 lung cancer. You’ve endured the agony of a terminal diagnosis. You’ve cleared the hurdles of medical approval for a rare, double-lung transplant. You’ve clung to hope, arranged travel from California to Chicago, and prepared to leave the hospital for the chance to breathe again — literally.

Then, at the very last moment, your insurance company — Cigna — slams the door shut.

According to reporting from KABC-TV in Los Angeles, that’s exactly what happened to Mr. Wells. After he and his doctors believed they had approval for the transplant and the medical transfer to Northwestern Medicine in Illinois, Cigna pulled the rug out from under them. The family was preparing to leave UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center when the denial came through.

“I am really sad that my life is in the hands of these decision-makers who seem to make these decisions in such a cold way,” Wells told KABC.

This has been happening for years. One of the reasons I left my role as head of corporate communications for Cigna was because of the tragic saga of 17-year-old Nataline Sarkisyan, who died in 2007 after my former employer denied a liver transplant she desperately needed. I watched firsthand as Cigna reversed course only after a massive public outcry — but by then it was too late to save her life.

Sadly, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

A System Designed to Deny

Deron Wells’ story is yet another painful example of what’s fundamentally broken in our health care system: Insurers routinely make life-and-death decisions not based on medical necessity, but on business priorities. Cigna stated in a press release that its denial was based on “coverage guidelines grounded in national clinical standards.” That’s the same language insurers use every day to justify denying care that real doctors, on the ground, have recommended.

Let’s not forget: this is the same Cigna that’s been exposed for using an automated system to deny thousands of claims without even reading them — in one case, rejecting 60,000 claims in just two months, according to ProPublica. The very same insurer that earned billions in profits last year while hiking premiums and delaying and denying needed care.

What’s even more heart-wrenching is the emotional whiplash this must have caused Deron and his family. After all, they had every reason to believe the transplant would be covered. You can picture the bags packed, the family bracing for a high-stakes journey, feeling terrified but hopeful. And then – without warning — denied. That’s not just poor communication. That’s cruelty.

When GoFundMe Becomes Our Safety Net

Now, like so many Americans, Deron Wells must turn to GoFundMe to try to stay alive. His friends and family have launched a campaign to raise funds for the transplant and medical transport that Cigna has refused to pay for.

This isn’t unusual. In fact, GoFundMe itself has admitted that medical fundraising is now one of its most common uses in the United States, with about a third of all its campaigns related to health care. What used to be a platform for community events and school fundraisers has become a de facto safety net for a nation where having health insurance is no guarantee you’ll get care when you need it.

Deron Wells’ GoFundMe.

The GoFundMe page for Wells reads: 

Deron is one of the most loyal, kind-hearted people you’ll ever meet. He has given everything to his friends, his family, and his community — and now, we are coming together to fight for his life.

Every donation, no matter the amount, brings us one step closer to giving Deron the chance he deserves. Please give what you can, and share this page widely.

Let’s save our friend. Let’s show Cigna and the world that this life matters.

That’s not a health care system — it’s a cruel lottery, rigged in favor of huge corporations with armies of lobbyists and denial algorithms.

Not Just Wells’s Fight — It’s Ours

Deron Wells is now waiting on an appeal. Cigna has promised a response by Thursday. In the meantime, his wife, Janet, and his supporters are making desperate pleas to save his life.

“We're not just a number,” she said. “We are talking about his life.”

She’s right. But to companies like Cigna, that’s exactly the problem. To them, we are just numbers — risk calculations on a balance sheet. And they’ve built a system where denying care isn’t the exception. It’s the business model.

We need to change this. Until we do, stories like Deron’s will keep happening. Families will keep getting blindsided. And insurers will keep hiding behind guidelines and gobbledygook while Americans crowdfund their survival.

As someone who once had to defend indefensible corporate policies, I can say this with certainty: The only thing more dangerous than a deadly disease is an insurance company standing between you and the cure.

P.S.: Speaking of numbers, Cigna’s board of directors gave CEO David Cordani a 10.5% raise last year, bringing his total 2024 compensation to $23.3 million. The company made almost $8 billion in profits on the $247 billion it collected last year in premiums and fees from people like Deron Wells.