West Virginia man’s insurer denied his cancer treatment for months, but only reversed it after NBC News got involved, by then it was too late

West Virginia’s Republican governor signed a new bill aimed at limiting insurance denials. It happened six months after a local man, Eric Tennant, died following a long fight with his health insurer over cancer treatment coverage.

According to NBC News, Eric Tennant, a 58-year-old coal mining safety instructor from Bridgeport, died last September from complications related to stage 4 bile duct cancer. His cancer journey began in 2023, and for nearly three years, he went through chemotherapy, radiation, biopsies, and multiple hospitalizations.

In early 2025, a new procedure called histotripsy appeared as a possible option. It is a noninvasive treatment that uses ultrasound waves to target and potentially shrink tumors. The Tennant family hoped it would give Eric more time and improve his quality of life. But his insurer, the state’s Public Employees Insurance Agency (PEIA), repeatedly denied coverage for the roughly $50,000 treatment, calling it “experimental and investigational.”

Insurance denial costs patients their window for treatment

PEIA, which contracts with UnitedHealthcare to administer benefits, kept rejecting the claim despite Eric’s wife, Becky, submitting medical records, expert opinions, and supporting data through multiple appeals. She also reached out to “almost every one of our state representatives,” but nothing worked.

It was only after KFF Health News and NBC News contacted PEIA directly with questions about Eric’s case that the insurer reversed its decision. The approval came in late May. But as Becky Tennant told lawmakers, “the delay had already done its damage.” In other major stories covered by NBC News, Zelenskyy told the outlet he was fully confident Russia provided Iran satellite intelligence used to target a US air base in Saudi Arabia.

Within a week of the reversal, Eric was hospitalized. By midsummer, he was no longer a suitable candidate for the procedure. “The insurance company’s decision did not simply delay care. It closed doors,” his wife said. Eric died in September at home in hospice care, surrounded by his family, reported West Virginia Watch. Becky recalled whispering to him in his final moments, “You have been the best husband and the best dad, and you’ve always taken such good care of us,” before he passed with a look of “pure, total amazement” on his face.

The new West Virginia law, set to take effect on June 10, directly responds to cases like Eric’s. It allows plan members who already have approval for one course of treatment to pursue a medically appropriate alternative of equal or lesser cost without needing a new round of approval.

Gov. Patrick Morrisey stated, “This legislation is rooted in a simple principle: if a treatment has already been approved, patients should be able to pursue a medically appropriate alternative without being forced to start the process over again, especially when it does not cost more.”

Delegate Laura Kimble, the Republican from Harrison who introduced the bill, noted that if this law had been in place last year, Eric could have received histotripsy without preapproval, since it was a less expensive alternative to chemotherapy, which PEIA had already authorized. The bill passed unanimously through the state legislature.

Prior authorization is a nationwide issue, with at least half of all state legislatures currently working on related bills. Health insurers argue that most requests are quickly approved and that the process acts as a “guardrail” against unnecessary costs and patient harm. But a KFF poll from February found that Americans rank prior authorization as their biggest burden in accessing healthcare.

A December survey by the American Medical Association found that more than one in four physicians reported prior authorization had led to a serious adverse event for a patient, with 8% linking it to disability, birth defect, or death. In unrelated news, a quadruple amputee cornhole star was arrested following a deadly altercation in a case that drew widespread attention.

Becky Tennant remains skeptical that insurers will change without being pushed, which is why she became a strong advocate for the West Virginia bill. “Families should not have to beg, appeal, or go public just to access time-sensitive care,” she told lawmakers. She says Eric’s final wish was clear.

During his last hospital stay, she asked if he wanted her to keep fighting to change PEIA’s prior authorization process. He said, “‘Well, you need to at least try to change it,’ because it’s not fair.” She promised she would, and she is keeping that promise.