Nathan Maulorico and his wife, Megan Maulorico, own a successful filmmaking company in Springfield.
Megan was diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer shortly after her 39th birthday this year. We talked about their family’s new reality a few weeks ago.
Ozarks Public Radio's reporter said, “I interviewed your husband last week, and I got a clear sense of you taking care of him throughout this, just kind of even in between the lines of all his comments about him taking care of you.”
“How do I take care of you?” Megan asked her husband.
Nathan replied, “Because you're always so worried about me and want to make sure I'm eating and taking care of myself when I should be taking care of you.”
Megan started to cry.
“Take your time," the reporter said.
That’s the harder part," Megan said. "He has to keep going. I mean, there's a freedom when you're the one who — there's an end for me. My pain will not continue. It does for the people you love. I mean, I don't think my mom wanted to lose a kid — before she, you know, that's not the natural order of things. You hope to pass before your children. She doesn't get that. I mean, we plan on being married a long time.”
Nathan said, “Of course, yeah. You don't get to grow old together.”
'The insurance company denied it immediately'
As the Mauloricos face cancer, they also face tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills. They say they get their health insurance through the healthcare.gov marketplace. Their insurer is Ambetter. It’s a division of Centene, a $36 billion corporation out of St. Louis. The Mauloricos say insurance doesn’t cover everything and frequently denies treatment options.
Megan recounted a recent incident when she was in for chemotherapy. Her doctor wanted her to receive a long-acting drug to stimulate white blood cell development in her bone marrow.
Megan said, “The insurance company denied it immediately. And the nurses themselves call for you. And while you're sitting there, they go to the other room. They make those calls, they argue on your behalf. They come back and it's personal to them because they see you, they know that the doctor has required this medication. And then the insurance company knows none of this information. They don't know me they don't know the doctor's request. And they say no. And what was the — what did the nurse say? She said they make more medical decisions than your doctors do. “
On April 27th, the Mauloricos created a crowdfunding campaign on GoFundMe.com. Megan and Nathan asked their loved ones and the community for $50,000, promising to spend it all on Megan’s care and to donate any remaining funds to other cancer patients. They’ve raised almost $25,000 so far.
“It was tough to make that initial post of the GoFundMe" Nathan said, "because we're just not the type of people that want to take other people's money or charity and things like that.”
GoFundMe has become part of the American health system, logging more than $2 billion in healthcare donations between 2016 and 2020, according to one study in the American Journal of Public Health. Americans spend more per capita on healthcare than all other rich countries — and have the lowest life expectancy in that peer group to show for it, according to research by the Peterson-Kaiser Family Foundation Health System Tracker.
Thus, GoFundMe is one way the Mauloricos are seeking to pay for Megan’s treatment, which includes frequent trips to Kansas City.
Megan said, “I did get into a clinic, though. So I got into KU Kansas University, Medical.”
As they recount their story, two other major clinics located outside of the Ozarks turned the Mauloricos down when it became clear Ambetter deemed the clinics out of network.
''That's just not the right way of thinking when it comes to healthcare'
Last week, Ozarks Public Radio reached out to the pair of clinics. One did not offer any comment. The other said it could not comment on any individual patient due to privacy laws but said in general, providing coverage for treatment when a hospital is out-of-network is determined by the insurance company, typically with a physician referral, prior authorization from that insurer and a signed agreement between the insurer and the hospital.
Ambetter declined a request for an interview. The insurance company also cited privacy laws preventing them from commenting on an individual situation. A spokesperson sent a statement saying, “the health and well-being of our members is our top priority,” and offered a customer-service phone number.
Nathan reflected on working with insurers and clinics when KSMU interviewed him in his garage recently while he set up his camera for an upcoming video shoot. “
"It's not about, does she need it?" he said. "It's about, will they pay for it?
"Which, that's just not the right way of thinking when it comes to healthcare.”
“That must drive you crazy," a reporter said.
“It does," Nathan replied. "And I try not to let it bog me down. It's not a battle that I'm gonna win today. The battles that I am going to win are spending time with Megan. That's what I can focus on."
