Blog No. 153 – Keeping Margaret Alive, Part 4: 21 January 2025

I was on the verge of bringing to an end, the scam operated by the health insurers in relation to Lift Cancer Care.

Neither the Commonwealth Ombudsman nor the Health Department had shown any interest in terminating the scam.

I wonder how many other health providers are still being subjected to similar scams.  I am sure Lift Cancer Care was not the only victim of unlawful behaviour by the health insurers.

Now the struggle with the health insurers was nearly over, Margaret’s cancer had no reason to stay in remission, so it did not.

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Margaret arranged to have this very special birthday cake made for her sister’s Maurine’s birthday in September 2021.  The cake was expensive and it was delicious.

Margaret’s sister Maurine cancelled me on 23 November 2023, three months after Margaret’s death.  She never did tell me why.  Given that Margaret was then dead, I obviously no longer mattered.

By September 2022, Margaret had commenced an increasingly impossible struggle to stay alive.

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I took this photo of Margaret on 19 September 2021.  In September 2021, Margaret had already been cancelled by those she had thought were her friends.

In all of the photos I took after September 2022, Margaret visibly draws ever closer to death.

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In April 2022, Margaret still had a fatal cancer, but for reasons that neither we nor the oncologist could explain, her relative good health continued and the cancer continued to stay out of sight.  Margaret’s next cat scan was not due until June 2022.  Our life continued on the pattern of our new “normal”.  I hoped that perhaps the cancer would disappear; Margaret certainly realised this was impossible.

Throughout that April, I divided my spare time between driving Margaret to her many appointments and forcing the health insurers to obey the law.  Our days were so very busy.  I was worried sick and constantly exhausted.

Margaret had four treatments at lift Cancer Care during April 2022.  This Table summarises the claims lodged with HCF and what HCF did with them.

Date of Clam (April 2022)	Claim Paid or Unpaid?	Notification to Us?
7 April*	Unpaid	No
12 April**	Unpaid	No
20 April***	Unpaid	No
29 April****	Yes – but only as a “discretionary payment”	Yes - email dated 14 June 2022

* Emailed on 4 April 2022 to Junita Lindsay at HCF with Letter dated 5 May 2022

** Emailed on 25 April 2022 to Junita Lindsay at HCF with Letter dated 5 May 2022

*** Emailed on 25 April 2022 to Junita Lindsay at HCF with Letter dated 5 May 2022

**** Emailed on 14 June to Lynette Macks with Letter dated 14 June 2022

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All of the claims I lodged with HCF for treatments given to Margaret by Lift Cancer Care in April 2022 continued to be ignored, but I was starting to have an impact.  The claims I lodged for the treatments given to Margaret on the 7th, 12th and 20th of April were ignored as if they had never been made, just like all previous claims, but strangely, HCF replied to the claim for the 29th of April treatment on the very day I submitted it and told me the claim had been paid as a “discretionary payment”.   This is the mail I received on 17 June 2022 from Lynette Macks, HCF Head of Membership.

Dear Mr Hankin, I am writing in reference to your letter dated 14/05/2022. I acknowledge receipt of your claims and we have now processed a discretionary payment of $705 today for the dates of service of 29/04/2022, 03/05/2022 & 12/05/2022 where you have attached details of your claims and payments made. Please advise if you have made any further payments for services and send them directly to myself so that I can process them in the same way. Following that, I would ask for you to please stop making any payments towards these services as Lift can send the claims directly to us with the appropriate documents to process the benefits. From this point, you will see details of these claims in your claims history rather than it being listed as discretionary payment. Please also let me know if you would like me to provide another up to date claims statement for you. I am happy to discuss this further if you have any questions. Take care, Lynette Lynette Macks Head of Membership Level 5, 75 George St Parramatta NSW 2150 P 02 8852 1770 (ext: 3770)      E LMacks@hcf.com.au hcf.com.au

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By the time I lodged the claim for the treatment given on 29 April, I had been “escalated” beyond the lowly Junita Lindsay to Lynette Macks, HCF Head of membership.  Despite this, according to our official claims’ history record, we never made any of the April 2022 claims for treatments provided by Lift Cancer Care.  

This change in the attitude of HCF did not occur because HCF had realised the unlawfulness and immorality of what it had been doing.  My refusal to let the health insurers get away with their crimes – plus a broadening of my letter war to include HCF, NIB and Teachers’ Health - was finally forcing the health insurers to very reluctantly obey the law.  This happened even though the Australian Health Department (as primary regulator) and the Commonwealth Ombudsman (as the secondary regulator) remained uninterested in the health insurers except to protect them from their legal obligations.