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Ronnie Polaneczky: Media spotlight brings out best in insurance company

IF I EVER doubted the power of the press to coax the high and mighty into doing right by the desperate and vulnerable, the story of 12-year-old Hannah Max is a reminder of its mighty force.

Rachel Browne and Randy Max, with their son Sam and daughter Hannah, have just arrived in Philly, where Hannah will receive neuroblastoma treatment at CHOP. (Family photo)
Rachel Browne and Randy Max, with their son Sam and daughter Hannah, have just arrived in Philly, where Hannah will receive neuroblastoma treatment at CHOP. (Family photo)Read more

IF I EVER doubted the power of the press to coax the high and mighty into doing right by the desperate and vulnerable, the story of 12-year-old Hannah Max is a reminder of its mighty force.

Though a certain Dutch insurance company begs to differ. For months, the family and friends of Hannah, who has been fighting neuroblastoma - a rare, terrible form of childhood cancer - faced the impossible task of raising $400,000 to pay for treatment at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Following a blitz of media stories on both sides of the Atlantic - Hannah lives in Rotterdam, Netherlands, where the latest neuroblastoma therapy is unavailable - her balky Dutch insurer, IZA, had a change of heart.

"It's not that we ever refused to pay for treatment," IZA spokeswoman Karen van Rijsewijk told me yesterday, when I asked why IZA, decided last Friday to pay for Hannah's therapies at CHOP.

"It's just that it took us quite some time to come to the right, well-researched decision."

Since health care in the Netherlands is financed by the government, she explained, there are "quite a lot of rules and regulations we must follow" to figure out whether treatments are covered.

Yes, she admits, the analysis took a while (3 1/2 months, actually, but why quibble when it comes to the timeliness of life-or-death therapies?). But in the end, it was determined that Hannah's very intense and expensive treatment at CHOP adhered to government protocols.

"We're very glad that we will be able to give Hannah the health care she needs," said van Rijsewijk.

At least, that's their story and they're sticking to it.

The turnaround is phenomenal to Hannah's parents, Rachel Browne and Randy Max, who are musicians - British-born Rachel plays violin; American-born Randy is a timpanist - with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra.

Their insurance nightmare was brought to my attention in January by another American ex-pat, Tammy Fine, whose husband is the Rotterdam's artistic director.

Fine had read my recent story about Kyler VanNocker, the 5-year-old local neurbolastoma patient whose parents have sued his insurance carrier, HealthAmerica, for refusing to pay for his latest treatment. Fine wondered if I could help her, from across the ocean, arrange a crazy, fundraising extravaganza for Hannah.

The Rotterdam would be visiting New York in February, Fine said, and its musicians had volunteered to spend their only day off - which would be tonight - performing a benefit concert for Hannah, right here in Philly.

The big draw, for classical-music lovers?

The chance to meet the Rotterdam's dashing, world-famous young maestro, Yannick Nezet-Seguin, rumored to be on the short list to take the baton of Philly's leaderless orchestra.

Many calls and bitten nails later - with hard work from many Good Samaritans in Philly worried silly about a little girl they'd never met - the fundraiser was scheduled for tonight, right here in Philly.

News of Philly's efforts hit print in Rotterdam, where the orchestra also announced an additional concert for Hannah. Widespread public reaction was, hmmm . . . is "aghast" too strong a word?

"Usually, our health-care coverage is quite good in the Netherlands," says Hannah's mom, Rachel. "But IZA kept delaying a decision about paying for Hannah to go to CHOP. It went on for months. People were very, very angry when they read about it. The situation made IZA look really bad."

On Friday, as Hannah's family was preparing to leave for Philly - donors in the international music community had come through with almost $150,000 and CHOP was willing to work with the family on that basis - the call came.

IZA would pay for Hannah's treatment. Unlike HealthAmerica, the U.S. insurance company that won't pay for Kyler VanNocker's care, IZA seems to have a heart just human enough to be susceptible to the power of public shame.

"It was stunning, just fantastic news," said Rachel yesterday, as Hannah underwent her first round of scans at CHOP.

"We never thought they'd come through. If there hadn't been so much negative press, we really believe they would have continued to deny our claim until it was too late to treat Hannah."

So where does that leave tonight's concert?

It's canceled, for lack of need (I can't believe I just wrote that line) and Hannah's parents are in the astounding, unanticipated position of trying to figure out what to do with the $150,000 that was donated for Hannah's care.

Most donors have said they don't want the money back, so the family plans to use it to help others struggling with uninsured medical costs.

"Everyone has been so generous and caring," says Rachel.

"It would feel lovely, for once, to be in a position to help others instead of asking for help for ourselves."

E-mail polaner@phillynews.com or call 215-854-2217. For recent columns:

http://go.philly.com/polaneczky. Read Ronnie's blog at http://go.philly.com/ ronnieblog.