Cystic Fibrosis Patient Seeking Help From UPMC
Katie Prager has cystic fibrosis and needs a double lung transplant to save her life. The problem: insurance won't pay for it.
"I think it's unlikely that Katie will live longer than a year," says Dr. Michael Anstead, Katie's pulmonologist in Kentucky.
Katie has Kentucky Medicaid. They denied the out-of-state treatment she needs at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, one of the few health systems in the country willing to take on her complicated case.
Caught up in the insurance blame game, Katie's hoping the transplant will somehow work out. But it's hard to stay positive without her husband, Dalton, by her side.
Dalton also has cystic fibrosis. He has private insurance and got a transplant in November. The transplant drugs suppress his immune system, and he can't be near Katie because her infection could kill him.
"It would be just a miracle to me if I could just hug him. Like that's all I want. I haven't had a hug in so long," says Katie.
She's desperately hoping for a reunion, and that hug, very soon.
But with less than a year to live, theirs is a life and death love story that's careening fast toward tragedy.
If you'd like to help Katie and her husband, visit their Facebook page here for more information: