RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — A Richmond resident wants a major insurance company to set the record straight after sending negative cancer test results to the wrong members.
An 8News viewer reached out to our team after they received a letter in the mail from the insurance company Aetna that states, “your sample tested negative, which means there is a 99% chance you don’t have any traces of colon cancer.” The viewer, who wishes to remain anonymous, never took a test for colon cancer.
In a statement, a spokesperson from Aetna told 8News:
“We recently reached out to a select group of fully insured Commercial members to sign up for a free at-home colon cancer screening kit. Due to an error, we discovered that these members inadvertently received a direct mail notification that they had a negative result. Most members notified had not yet ordered a kit.”
The member who spoke with 8News said he is concerned about the number of people who received the same letter.
“My father has cancer and just the mere mention of the word cancer is a very stressful situation,” the viewer said. “I feel horrible if somebody out there…right now has cancer and they’re being told that they don’t.”
He added that he wants Aetna to take the issue seriously for everyone that received an incorrect test result.
“This is not something that should be taken lightly,” the member said. “It should be jumped on by the insurance company to notify people that, hey, this was a mistake on our part and we are going to correct it.”
8News asked Aetna how many members received the letter and if any positive results were sent. Aetna denied to comment further but said the company is currently working to resolve this issue.
“We are sending a follow-up letter and e-mail communication where applicable to impacted members about the letter and steps they can take,” Aetna told 8News. “We sincerely apologize to these members and are conducting a review to prevent this from happening in the future. Plan members who have questions should call the number on the back of their member ID card.”
