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Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
John Brenkus, Trailblazer Behind ESPN's ‘Sports Science,' Dies at 54
John Brenkus, the creator and host of the Emmy-winning show 'Sports Science,' has died, his family announced on Sunday. Brenkus, 54, reportedly battled depression for years and was open about his mental health struggles. Sunday night on X, the Brenkus' account posted "It is with profound sadness that we share the news that John Brenkus has passed away. been battling depression. John lost his fight with this terrible illness on May 31, 2025. His heartbroken family and friends request privacy at this time, and encourage anyone who is suffering with depression to seek help." 'Sports Science' debuted in 2007 on Fox Sports Net and later moved to ESPN, where it became a staple for sports fans. The show earned six Emmy Awards and made complex athletic feats accessible through science and technology. Whether explaining how Tyreek Hill maintains his lightning-fast speed or how Joey Chestnut can devour dozens of hot dogs, Brenkus's segments were always both informative and entertaining. In total, Brenkus hosted over 1,800 segments, cementing his legacy in sports media. ESPN eventually acquired the 'Sports Science' brand from him, but Brenkus continued producing new content on his own platforms in recent years. His openness about depression and mental health brought him additional respect. In a 2023 interview with Marcellus Wiley, Brenkus revealed that he had once attempted suicide but was saved by his dog's intervention. His story resonated with many, highlighting the importance of mental health support. Following his death, tributes poured in from across the sports world. Fellow broadcasters, athletes, and fans shared memories of his work and expressed gratitude for his contributions to sports media. If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, resources are available. Call or text 988 or visit the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at for Brenkus, Trailblazer Behind ESPN's 'Sports Science,' Dies at 54 first appeared on Men's Journal on Jun 2, 2025
CNN
23-05-2025
- CNN
Twin 19-year-old brothers were found dead on a remote Georgia mountaintop. Police now say they've solved the mystery
FacebookTweetLink Follow EDITOR'S NOTE: Help is available if you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts or mental health matters. In the US, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Qaadir and Naazir Lewis entered the world five minutes apart. The identical twins loved many of the same things: anime, the color red and the animated Disney classic, 'The Princess and the Frog.' Where one went, the other followed. Their relatives in suburban Atlanta nicknamed them the 'ding-dong twins' because they moved as one. 'They were so bound together … like 'ding-dong, ding-dong,'' said one of their aunts, Sabriya Brawner, mimicking the chime of a doorbell. The 19-year-olds had big plans for the future, including a cruise to celebrate their 20th birthdays and dreams of becoming entrepreneurs. So their family was stunned when the twins were found shot to death March 8 at the summit of remote Bell Mountain, about a two-hour drive north of Atlanta. Investigators at the time said preliminary evidence suggested a murder-suicide — an outcome their family members refused to believe. 'The twins would not have harmed each other. They had a strong bond,' their aunt Yasmine Brawner said on Facebook in April. 'Someone took their lives away.' But on Wednesday, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation released a sobering new finding, based on autopsies and other evidence: The twins both died by suicide. Investigators said forensic evidence from the scene showed that both twins had fired a gun. In addition, their phones' internet history showed searches related to suicide and how to load a gun. The GBI declined to comment further. The brothers' family members did not respond to a request Thursday for comment. In interviews before this week, the family told CNN the shocking deaths of Qaadir and Naazir had left them struggling to understand what happened. And the new GBI report still leaves many questions unanswered. especially this one: What would lead two ambitious, promising young men to take their own lives? On March 7 – the day before the discovery of the bodies – Naazir was supposed to fly to Boston to visit friends, his family and investigators said. Records show that Naazir had a ticket and went to the Atlanta airport but never boarded the plane, the GBI said. It's unclear why. Much of what happened after that remains unknown. The twins' stepmother told other family members she briefly saw the brothers later that day at their home in the Atlanta suburb of Lawrenceville, where they lived with her and their dad. The twins typically shuttled around in a 2009 black Nissan Altima they jointly bought two years ago. The car, and their cell phones, revealed glimpses into their final hours. The GBI said investigators used cellphone location data to build a timeline of the twins' journey to Bell Mountain, then checked security video footage along the route to determine the brothers were alone. A spokesperson for the GBI, Nelly Miles, declined to provide additional details, pending the official closing of the investigation in the coming weeks. One clue came from a Shell station about 10 minutes from the brothers' house. The twins stopped at the gas station on the night of March 7, where they bought water, chips and Jack Link's beef jerky. The snacks cost $10.24. The gas station receipt said it was 10:24 p.m. The Shell station attendant on duty that night told CNN he does not remember the twins. But assistant manager Chris Allemand said that although he was not working that night, he watched the surveillance video footage of their snack stop before giving it to the GBI about two weeks after their deaths. One moment on the video stood out, he said. The twins had stopped at pump No. 8, and as they opened their car door, a basketball bounced out onto the concrete before one of them retrieved it — a fleeting glimpse of teenage normalcy before tragedy struck. After they got their snacks, the brothers climbed into their car and vanished into the night. About 12 hours later, hikers discovered their bodies at the top of the mountain. Naazir and Qaadir shared the same room most of their lives. They spent hours playing their favorite video game, 'Mortal Kombat,' and watching anime. They couldn't get enough of the 'Tokyo Ghoul' and 'Attack on Titan' anime series. Growing up, they would often storm into their sister's room at the end of the day. Kai'ree Powell is older by six years, but they treated her like their little sister, she said. 'They never let me go into the store alone,' Powell said. 'And after school, they would bust into my room and just start talking about their day and ask me about mine.' Her voice trailed off as her eyes welled up. 'They used to get on my dang nerves,' she added softly. But the siblings were close. Even after Powell moved into her own place, the twins stopped by every week. They plopped onto the couch, scrolled through Netflix and talked about anything and everything, she said. Their visits continued right until the end. On March 5, ammunition for the gun was delivered to the house where the brothers lived, the GBI said. Investigators said Naazir – the older twin -- had purchased the bullets. On March 6, the day before Naazir's planned trip to Boston, the twins spent much of the day with Powell. They accompanied her on a campus tour of the Interactive College of Technology in Chamblee, another Atlanta suburb. They hung out again that evening at Powell's place in Atlanta, where they watched the animated sitcom 'Rick and Morty' before calling it a night around 11. In their conversations that night, Powell said her brothers wanted to know what she really wanted to do with her life. 'They asked me … 'If you didn't have any anxiety and fears, what would you do?' And I told them that I would want to dance because I've always wanted to be a dancer,' Powell said, her eyes shimmering with tears behind her glasses. 'And they said, 'You should do that. I really hope that you do that.' And that was the last thing they said to me.' When the boys were young, some relatives could barely tell them apart. But as they grew older, the family noticed small differences. Naazir had wider eyes, said Yasmine Brawner, another aunt who babysat them as children. He was also more outspoken and louder than his brother. As kids they dressed alike. But as teens they opted for different hairstyles, making it easier to tell who was who. Qaadir preferred twists, while Naazir wore braids or a buzz cut. The twins graduated from Collins Hill High School in Suwanee, Georgia, in May 2023 and were both pursuing their passions at trade schools. And like their eyes and hairstyles, their goals had subtle differences. Qaadir attended an aviation maintenance school and wanted to work on airplanes, while Naazir was studying automotive repair at a technical college. 'Qaadir was like, 'Naazir is fixing cars, I'll fix airplanes,'' said their aunt, Sabriya Brawner. 'Naazir would work on the Nissan because it would break down all the time.' Their ultimate goal was to be entrepreneurs because they had no interest in working for anyone, their aunts said. They were discussing plans to start an athletic clothing line called Overkill – a name they associated with excellence. 'Like strive for your future, and don't just stop there. Overkill. Go for it. Go all the way,' said Sabriya Brawner. They also watched a lot of motivational videos on their phones. 'They were not bare-minimum people. They were so career driven,' Powell said. Their uncle chuckled as he recalled a time he tried to trick Naazir. 'When he first saw my Jeep, I kind of lied to him that this is the highest engine – the 395. He was like, 'bruh, no, it's not,'' Rahim Brawner said. 'He knew cars.' On April 27, three aunts and an uncle – all siblings of the twins' biological mom – made a road trip from suburban Atlanta up into the mountains of north Georgia. Unfamiliar with the area, they looked it up before their drive that Sunday morning. They also took the uncle's Jeep to help navigate the winding road up Bell Mountain, near the border with North Carolina. 'We wanted to travel the same path they did just to try and figure out that scenario,' said their uncle, Rahim Brawner. 'I drive a Jeep, and it was hard to get to that mountain. The twins hated long drives … they could barely drive. This is so out of character for them.' At the park entrance, they stopped at a yellow barricade, near where they believe the Nissan Altima was found. Then they drove the short distance to the summit, past a sign that read, 'WARNING STEEP GRADE.' The top of the mountain contains jagged rocks – some covered in graffiti – and wooden stairs to a platform offering a panoramic view of Lake Chatuge and the Appalachian Mountains. The foursome – Sabriya, Samira, Yasmine and Rahim Brawner – climbed out of the car and walked around. The family was baffled by the timeline that night. The barricade to the park atop the mountain is supposed to be locked every night from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. So if the twins didn't leave the Lawrenceville gas station until after 10:24 p.m., when did they reach the mountain? And how did they get past the gate? 'It just doesn't make sense,' their uncle said, referring to the remote location. 'Too sketchy for them.' A woman who answered the door at the house earlier this month and identified herself as their stepmother, Kaarini Lewis, told CNN that she and her husband – the twins' father – are still processing the loss. She declined to comment further. The brothers' biological mother is also struggling, said Sabriya Brawner, the twins' aunt. Their mother, who lives in the Atlanta suburb of Decatur, declined to comment when CNN reached out to her through her siblings. 'For a lot of our family, it's too much,' Brawner said. 'They are extremely traumatized.' Family members have spent the last few months trying to untangle the mystery of the twins' final days — and how they ended up at Bell Mountain, of all places. Seeking answers, they started a GoFundMe in March in the hopes of hiring a private investigator who specializes in homicide and criminal cases. The many unanswered questions on what led to the twins' deaths have only deepened family members' grief. The brothers were laid to rest on March 28, in matching coffins at a cemetery in suburban Atlanta. They came into this world together, and they left it together. They had hoped to go on a tropical cruise from Florida to mark their birthdays in April but were still going back-and-forth about the destination in their family group chat, said Shania Brawner, a cousin. Family members say they still want to plan a cruise trip to heal together and to honor Qaadir and Naazir. Powell, their sister, told CNN she hopes people will remember her brothers not for how they died, but because of how they lived. On April 5, the day the brothers would have turned 20, the family got together again at the twins' mom's house in Decatur, Georgia, for a posthumous birthday celebration. They gathered around a cake adorned with the twins' photos surrounded by wavy white frosting. Foil trays brimmed with the brothers' favorite food: chicken wings. People embraced. Some wiped away tears. 'It was our way of keeping them with us, keeping it a happy moment even with everything going on,' Shania Brawner said. And they released white balloons into the sky, shouting, 'Happy heavenly birthday to Qaadir and Naazir!' as they watched them float away, higher and higher, towards the heavens.
CNN
23-05-2025
- CNN
Twin 19-year-old brothers were found dead on a remote Georgia mountaintop. Police now say they've solved the mystery
FacebookTweetLink Follow EDITOR'S NOTE: Help is available if you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts or mental health matters. In the US, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Qaadir and Naazir Lewis entered the world five minutes apart. The identical twins loved many of the same things: anime, the color red and the animated Disney classic, 'The Princess and the Frog.' Where one went, the other followed. Their relatives in suburban Atlanta nicknamed them the 'ding-dong twins' because they moved as one. 'They were so bound together … like 'ding-dong, ding-dong,'' said one of their aunts, Sabriya Brawner, mimicking the chime of a doorbell. The 19-year-olds had big plans for the future, including a cruise to celebrate their 20th birthdays and dreams of becoming entrepreneurs. So their family was stunned when the twins were found shot to death March 8 at the summit of remote Bell Mountain, about a two-hour drive north of Atlanta. Investigators at the time said preliminary evidence suggested a murder-suicide — an outcome their family members refused to believe. 'The twins would not have harmed each other. They had a strong bond,' their aunt Yasmine Brawner said on Facebook in April. 'Someone took their lives away.' But on Wednesday, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation released a sobering new finding, based on autopsies and other evidence: The twins both died by suicide. Investigators said forensic evidence from the scene showed that both twins had fired a gun. In addition, their phones' internet history showed searches related to suicide and how to load a gun. The GBI declined to comment further. The brothers' family members did not respond to a request Thursday for comment. In interviews before this week, the family told CNN the shocking deaths of Qaadir and Naazir had left them struggling to understand what happened. And the new GBI report still leaves many questions unanswered. especially this one: What would lead two ambitious, promising young men to take their own lives? On March 7 – the day before the discovery of the bodies – Naazir was supposed to fly to Boston to visit friends, his family and investigators said. Records show that Naazir had a ticket and went to the Atlanta airport but never boarded the plane, the GBI said. It's unclear why. Much of what happened after that remains unknown. The twins' stepmother told other family members she briefly saw the brothers later that day at their home in the Atlanta suburb of Lawrenceville, where they lived with her and their dad. The twins typically shuttled around in a 2009 black Nissan Altima they jointly bought two years ago. The car, and their cell phones, revealed glimpses into their final hours. The GBI said investigators used cellphone location data to build a timeline of the twins' journey to Bell Mountain, then checked security video footage along the route to determine the brothers were alone. A spokesperson for the GBI, Nelly Miles, declined to provide additional details, pending the official closing of the investigation in the coming weeks. One clue came from a Shell station about 10 minutes from the brothers' house. The twins stopped at the gas station on the night of March 7, where they bought water, chips and Jack Link's beef jerky. The snacks cost $10.24. The gas station receipt said it was 10:24 p.m. The Shell station attendant on duty that night told CNN he does not remember the twins. But assistant manager Chris Allemand said that although he was not working that night, he watched the surveillance video footage of their snack stop before giving it to the GBI about two weeks after their deaths. One moment on the video stood out, he said. The twins had stopped at pump No. 8, and as they opened their car door, a basketball bounced out onto the concrete before one of them retrieved it — a fleeting glimpse of teenage normalcy before tragedy struck. After they got their snacks, the brothers climbed into their car and vanished into the night. About 12 hours later, hikers discovered their bodies at the top of the mountain. Naazir and Qaadir shared the same room most of their lives. They spent hours playing their favorite video game, 'Mortal Kombat,' and watching anime. They couldn't get enough of the 'Tokyo Ghoul' and 'Attack on Titan' anime series. Growing up, they would often storm into their sister's room at the end of the day. Kai'ree Powell is older by six years, but they treated her like their little sister, she said. 'They never let me go into the store alone,' Powell said. 'And after school, they would bust into my room and just start talking about their day and ask me about mine.' Her voice trailed off as her eyes welled up. 'They used to get on my dang nerves,' she added softly. But the siblings were close. Even after Powell moved into her own place, the twins stopped by every week. They plopped onto the couch, scrolled through Netflix and talked about anything and everything, she said. Their visits continued right until the end. On March 5, ammunition for the gun was delivered to the house where the brothers lived, the GBI said. Investigators said Naazir – the older twin -- had purchased the bullets. On March 6, the day before Naazir's planned trip to Boston, the twins spent much of the day with Powell. They accompanied her on a campus tour of the Interactive College of Technology in Chamblee, another Atlanta suburb. They hung out again that evening at Powell's place in Atlanta, where they watched the animated sitcom 'Rick and Morty' before calling it a night around 11. In their conversations that night, Powell said her brothers wanted to know what she really wanted to do with her life. 'They asked me … 'If you didn't have any anxiety and fears, what would you do?' And I told them that I would want to dance because I've always wanted to be a dancer,' Powell said, her eyes shimmering with tears behind her glasses. 'And they said, 'You should do that. I really hope that you do that.' And that was the last thing they said to me.' When the boys were young, some relatives could barely tell them apart. But as they grew older, the family noticed small differences. Naazir had wider eyes, said Yasmine Brawner, another aunt who babysat them as children. He was also more outspoken and louder than his brother. As kids they dressed alike. But as teens they opted for different hairstyles, making it easier to tell who was who. Qaadir preferred twists, while Naazir wore braids or a buzz cut. The twins graduated from Collins Hill High School in Suwanee, Georgia, in May 2023 and were both pursuing their passions at trade schools. And like their eyes and hairstyles, their goals had subtle differences. Qaadir attended an aviation maintenance school and wanted to work on airplanes, while Naazir was studying automotive repair at a technical college. 'Qaadir was like, 'Naazir is fixing cars, I'll fix airplanes,'' said their aunt, Sabriya Brawner. 'Naazir would work on the Nissan because it would break down all the time.' Their ultimate goal was to be entrepreneurs because they had no interest in working for anyone, their aunts said. They were discussing plans to start an athletic clothing line called Overkill – a name they associated with excellence. 'Like strive for your future, and don't just stop there. Overkill. Go for it. Go all the way,' said Sabriya Brawner. They also watched a lot of motivational videos on their phones. 'They were not bare-minimum people. They were so career driven,' Powell said. Their uncle chuckled as he recalled a time he tried to trick Naazir. 'When he first saw my Jeep, I kind of lied to him that this is the highest engine – the 395. He was like, 'bruh, no, it's not,'' Rahim Brawner said. 'He knew cars.' On April 27, three aunts and an uncle – all siblings of the twins' biological mom – made a road trip from suburban Atlanta up into the mountains of north Georgia. Unfamiliar with the area, they looked it up before their drive that Sunday morning. They also took the uncle's Jeep to help navigate the winding road up Bell Mountain, near the border with North Carolina. 'We wanted to travel the same path they did just to try and figure out that scenario,' said their uncle, Rahim Brawner. 'I drive a Jeep, and it was hard to get to that mountain. The twins hated long drives … they could barely drive. This is so out of character for them.' At the park entrance, they stopped at a yellow barricade, near where they believe the Nissan Altima was found. Then they drove the short distance to the summit, past a sign that read, 'WARNING STEEP GRADE.' The top of the mountain contains jagged rocks – some covered in graffiti – and wooden stairs to a platform offering a panoramic view of Lake Chatuge and the Appalachian Mountains. The foursome – Sabriya, Samira, Yasmine and Rahim Brawner – climbed out of the car and walked around. The family was baffled by the timeline that night. The barricade to the park atop the mountain is supposed to be locked every night from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. So if the twins didn't leave the Lawrenceville gas station until after 10:24 p.m., when did they reach the mountain? And how did they get past the gate? 'It just doesn't make sense,' their uncle said, referring to the remote location. 'Too sketchy for them.' A woman who answered the door at the house earlier this month and identified herself as their stepmother, Kaarini Lewis, told CNN that she and her husband – the twins' father – are still processing the loss. She declined to comment further. The brothers' biological mother is also struggling, said Sabriya Brawner, the twins' aunt. Their mother, who lives in the Atlanta suburb of Decatur, declined to comment when CNN reached out to her through her siblings. 'For a lot of our family, it's too much,' Brawner said. 'They are extremely traumatized.' Family members have spent the last few months trying to untangle the mystery of the twins' final days — and how they ended up at Bell Mountain, of all places. Seeking answers, they started a GoFundMe in March in the hopes of hiring a private investigator who specializes in homicide and criminal cases. The many unanswered questions on what led to the twins' deaths have only deepened family members' grief. The brothers were laid to rest on March 28, in matching coffins at a cemetery in suburban Atlanta. They came into this world together, and they left it together. They had hoped to go on a tropical cruise from Florida to mark their birthdays in April but were still going back-and-forth about the destination in their family group chat, said Shania Brawner, a cousin. Family members say they still want to plan a cruise trip to heal together and to honor Qaadir and Naazir. Powell, their sister, told CNN she hopes people will remember her brothers not for how they died, but because of how they lived. On April 5, the day the brothers would have turned 20, the family got together again at the twins' mom's house in Decatur, Georgia, for a posthumous birthday celebration. They gathered around a cake adorned with the twins' photos surrounded by wavy white frosting. Foil trays brimmed with the brothers' favorite food: chicken wings. People embraced. Some wiped away tears. 'It was our way of keeping them with us, keeping it a happy moment even with everything going on,' Shania Brawner said. And they released white balloons into the sky, shouting, 'Happy heavenly birthday to Qaadir and Naazir!' as they watched them float away, higher and higher, towards the heavens.
CNN
16-05-2025
- Health
- CNN
‘I can't trust it ever again': Military families and heath care providers say insurance switchover has wreaked havoc and eroded trust
When Denise learned in February that she might have to pay out of pocket for her weekly therapy sessions, the military veteran from Virginia started to panic. She'd been seeing her psychologist weekly in Norfolk for over a year and was finally making progress in resolving some buried trauma. Denise, who doesn't want CNN to use her last name for privacy reasons, calls her therapist her 'lifeline,' as she fears taking her own life if she can't continue the care. The therapist informed her that Denise's insurance had stopped paying for her sessions. Denise uses Tricare, a military program that provides health insurance for active-duty service members, National Guard members, and many retirees — like Denise. It services about 9.5 million people. Her therapist, flustered by the abrupt halt in reimbursements, said she sought to get payment for weeks — not only for Denise's care but for all her other Tricare patients whose claims were suddenly going unprocessed as of January 1. Without success, she finally had to hold uncomfortable conversations, telling her patients in February that to stay afloat financially, she may need them to pay full price up front — or else pause their care until Tricare could start paying again. 'Panic. Absolute panic,' Denise told CNN, recalling how she felt when she heard the news. Her cost for therapy would increase from her copayment of $50 to roughly $200 per week if she had to pay out of pocket — a cost she couldn't afford. 'It scares me a lot. If I don't have someone to lean on, it won't end up well.' Denise's therapist, Dr. Libby Cutshall, has continued treating Denise for just the cost of her copayment. But she had to make the painful decision to pause care for about 30 other Tricare patients, as she couldn't afford to stay in business without receiving reimbursement for their care. How to get help Anyone in crisis in the US can call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, which also has online chat and resources for deaf people on its website. The International Association for Suicide Prevention and Befrienders Worldwide provide contact information for crisis centers around the world. Similar conversations happened in medical offices across the country when Tricare fell behind on reimbursing hordes of medical claims after major changes and technical glitches at the start of the year. This resulted in an avalanche of problems for both health care providers and patients, according to 37 providers and patients from 15 states who've shared their stories with CNN. They say those hit hardest were smaller outpatient clinics near military installations that operate on referrals and frequent appointments for mental health, speech therapy, physical therapy, and treatment for autism. For many, it's caused life-altering financial stress and disruption in care. Tricare is a complicated system, split between East and West regions, but it's a mainstay for military families. It's overseen by the Pentagon's Defense Health Agency, and, like benefit packages at private companies, it offers various coverage plans for medical, dental, mental health, and prescription drugs. It also authorizes access to civilian networks of providers for those who need care outside of military hospitals or bases. In the West, a new contractor, TriWest Healthcare Alliance, took over administering the health care program this year with its network of providers, adding to similar work it had done for the Department of Veterans Affairs. In the East, Humana Military continued the role it's had as the region's contractor for nearly 30 years but changed its claim processing partner. Six states moved from East to West, and the entire network had its annual Medicare rate update. TriWest said some of the problems were caused by the previous contractor not sending provider information in a timely manner — a claim the previous contractor strongly denies. Humana Military said technical issues made it difficult to process claims, but those issues are now resolved and they're working to clear the backlog. Clinics in both regions reported missing reimbursements for months. In the West, many providers said they found themselves out of the network entirely in January and some are still trying to get recredentialed to return. Patients have had issues finding out if the same providers they saw last year are still in-network, or whether their appointments will be covered. Providers and patients alike have spent hours on the phone trying to get answers. 'It's really halted my whole life,' said Shawn Manvell, the founder of Achievement Center for Therapy and owner of three large clinics — two in California and one in Nevada — that offer a wide range of therapies, with a special focus on treating people with autism. She said more than half of their patients come from Tricare families. Manvell has received about $70,000 in reimbursement checks recently from TriWest, and another $100,000 in cash advancements that she'll have to pay back. But she's still owed an estimated $350,000, she said. To keep treating patients and employing her staff of nearly 30, she's taken out $500,000 in high-interest loans, along with liquidating some of her own personal assets, she said. Now five months into the year, progress has been made in both regions, but those who follow Tricare closely say the overall issues and their rippling effects still linger, creating trust issues with Tricare that could leave long-lasting ramifications. Charlotte Cuestas, a 31-year-old military spouse in Florida, had been seeing a therapist for postpartum depression after a traumatic birth experience. She couldn't afford the $200 per session out of pocket that her therapist was needing after lack of reimbursement from Humana Military, so Cuestas decided to suspend her sessions. 'My fear is that it's going to get to a point where no therapists are going to want to take Tricare at all because of this issue,' she said. In several instances, providers near military bases who mostly serve Tricare beneficiaries say they have reduced the number of Tricare patients they'll accept, have left the network entirely, or plan to close their practice — ultimately resulting in less access to care for active-duty military members, retirees, and their families. Desperate for help, patients and providers made TikToks or took to military-centric Facebook and Reddit groups to post their experiences. Mission Alpha Advocacy, a non-profit group that focuses on military families with special needs, says it heard from nearly 400 providers who've reported insufficient payment and over 500 families who've reported disruption in care. Tricare has gone through turnovers and other hiccups in the past, but this one stands out, said John Letaw, a former Navy lieutenant commander who spends his retirement days helping people navigate the system. 'What we're seeing this time is way beyond. It's really inexplicable,' he told CNN in April. Letaw has written a book, 'The Ultimate Guide to TRICARE' and runs a Facebook group with nearly 20,000 members, where he's seen stories of struggle from patients who say they've been affected this year. 'It's pretty catastrophic to a lot of military families,' he said. Cutshall told CNN she continued treating four other Tricare patients, in addition to Denise, whom she described as her most vulnerable. She said she was too worried about the consequences if they had to suspend their sessions, and she feared they wouldn't find care elsewhere amid the Tricare struggles. '(Denise) is at risk for dying if she doesn't have care. That's not hyperbole,' Cutshall said of Denise. 'She served in the military, and she should get that care — and she shouldn't have to worry.' Cutshall said she went nearly three months without receiving any reimbursement at her clinic near Naval Station Norfolk, the largest naval installation in the world. With 80% of her patients using the military benefit, her practice was hit hard by the disruption. By her count, Cutshall said she's still owed an estimated $30,000 by Tricare. She hasn't paid herself at all this year, leaning entirely on her partner's income at home, and she said she's taken $20,000 from savings to help pay the three other therapists at her practice. Since early April, with help from a Tricare representative, reimbursements have started trickling in for small amounts of $115 or $120 — a few as large as $600 — but the payments don't explain which patients they cover, Cutshall said, so she has no way of reconciling her books. She said she was getting five to 10 calls each day this spring from people seeking care — many of them active-duty military. But she's had to turn them away, as she seeks to diversify and take clients who have other insurance coverage instead. 'It has changed the way that we deal with Tricare patients,' she said. 'And that's unfortunate because (they make up) so many people in our area, but we cannot continue to do this and sustain and help the people that we want to help.' The gradual trickling in of reimbursement checks — one provider in Texas said one of her initial checks was for 63 cents — is a sign of progress for many, but it's hardly relief for those who've been hit the hardest. And for some, the lag in reimbursement has been completely insurmountable. On April 30, Elizabeth Brown-Miller closed her applied behavior analysis clinic for children with autism near Fort Cavazos in Texas. She said the 'domino effect' created by a range of payment issues with TriWest this year was too crippling, and she's now meeting with lawyers about possible bankruptcy and ways to avoid it. 'There's no hope for us. There's no way,' she said. 'We have to shut down.' When she opened the clinic in 2021, it was part of the East region with Humana Military. But Texas was one of the six states that migrated to the West this year, and while Brown-Miller's clinic was still listed as in-network, her 16 therapists were suddenly out-of-network. Billing became a nightmare, she said, and reimbursement payments weren't coming through. She had to reduce pay for her therapists and cut back on services for her patients. To further maintain overhead and payroll, Brown-Miller said she took out $182,000 in high-interest loans, expecting the Tricare issues to be resolved soon. TriWest also sent her $70,000 in advance payments to help while they processed the backlog of her claims, she said, but she'll have to pay that back. In late April, after crunching the numbers, Brown-Miller decided she couldn't sustain her business. She was in too much unexpected debt, a hole too deep to climb out. 'A lot of my parents (of patients) are angry. They're upset. They're sad. They're grieving,' she said, growing emotional. 'I feel like I failed them. And they tell me I didn't. But at the end of the day, I did. Because I couldn't keep my doors open for them.' She said she reached out to 17 clinics in her area to see who was willing and financially able to take on her Tricare patients. Only four said they could. Meanwhile, in the East, Natasha Lachapelle has been a speech therapist for 22 years and finally opened her own practice three years ago in the military town of Columbus, Georgia, near Fort Benning Army Base. About 95% of her patients used Tricare. Six weeks into the new year, she emailed her clients to tell them that due to the lack of income from Tricare – she said she was owed thousands — she was cutting back her hours and taking a part-time position at a hospital instead. 'It was an absolute cluster,' said Lachapelle. As a small, solo practitioner who burned through her savings to deal with a cancer diagnosis last year, Lachapelle said she didn't have enough money to keep afloat while she saw patients for free. Humana Military had fully reimbursed her by mid-April, she said, but going months without payment and having to take on another part-time job simply became too much. She emailed her patients again on April 24, this time to say she was shutting down her practice by July, a decision she calls 'excruciating.' She said she feels so burned by Tricare that she can't risk putting her financial future at stake. 'I can't trust it,' she said. 'I can't trust it ever again.' In a message to beneficiaries on March 26, David Smith, the acting director of the Defense Health Agency, which oversees Tricare, acknowledged that the new contractors have 'experienced challenges' since January 1 and that beneficiaries and providers 'are understandably frustrated' by the delays in payment processing. Smith wrote that initial technical problems have been addressed and 'claims payments are now being processed closer to required standards.' As of mid-May, Humana Military has adjudicated 6.25 million claims in the East, totaling $1.3 billion, with fewer than 7% of its claims pending beyond 60 days, according to DHA officials and a Humana Military spokesperson. Meanwhile, TriWest has processed and paid more than 7.3 million claims, totaling $1.5 billion, with about 2.6% of its claims outstanding beyond 60 days, according to TriWest. 'We take our commitment to TRICARE East Region beneficiaries and providers very seriously, and apologize for the inconvenience and frustration this problem has caused,' a Humana Military spokesperson said in a statement. 'Our priority is always TRICARE East Region beneficiaries and their ability to get access to care. We are working closely with impacted providers to ensure they continue to care for TRICARE East Region beneficiaries.' In the West, a spokesperson from TriWest said in a statement: 'All major health care transitions of this size and scale bring challenges, and while we are currently processing and paying out claims to providers, we recognize that even one provider who has not been paid in a timely fashion is too many.' TriWest said 'it's making progress every week' and continues to improve processing times. A TriWest spokesperson also said the company hired hundreds of additional customer service staff to handle the massive influx of calls and complaints and reduce the hold time. Both regions said they're placing a special focus on clinics that treat patients with autism. With so many providers showing up out-of-network in the West, Tricare and TriWest have sought to assure military families that they don't need to wait for TriWest approval if they've been referred by their primary care manager — usually a physician on base — to see an outpatient provider. Tricare has issued a blanket waiver for patients to reference. David J. McIntyre, Jr., the president and CEO of TriWest, issued a letter to providers on April 29, apologizing for any disruptions at their practices and reiterated that Tricare patients don't need approval from TriWest if they've been referred for outpatient care at their clinics. McIntyre also addressed the issue of providers being out of network, saying, 'Tricare patients may continue to seek care from their existing providers, regardless of whether the provider has joined the TriWest network.' But patients say they run into providers who don't trust the waiver. 'The problem is medical specialists are reluctant to take those waivers because they're still not sure that they'll ever be paid,' said one retired Marine and combat veteran in California, who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation. He said he's lost more sleep trying to resolve questions about his wife's care than he lost during combat. After getting a partial mastectomy last year to remove a breast lesion, his wife is scheduled for several follow-up appointments with a variety of doctors this year. Her mother died of breast cancer, so it's a top-of-mind concern for him and his wife. But they can't get solid assurances that their appointments will be covered. 'The continual non-answers … they start to dominate your thoughts, your feelings. It increases anxiety, puts you on edge,' he said. 'It makes you question your own service and sacrifices that you made.' In Missouri, Danielle Gist was in her first trimester when she learned her obstetrician was no longer in network when TriWest took over. A military spouse who uses Tricare, Gist was suddenly getting large bills that she normally doesn't get for maternal care. At an appointment this month, now in her third trimester, she learned her obstetrician was finally back in network. The news 'felt like a bit of weight off the shoulders,' she said, but the stress and anxiety of trying to get answers over the past few months still leave her nervous. 'It still feels really uncertain,' she said. 'And I still have all the other bills to reconcile, so it's still looming over me. It just feels overwhelming and exhausting, like a job I didn't sign up for.' Christy Collins, a military spouse in Kansas, said Tricare has usually worked well for her family. But this year, she's spent hours trying to get an appointment scheduled for her 8-year-old daughter to be tested for autism and trying to get ADHD medications renewed for her 12-year-old daughter. She's also seeking a referral for a breast cancer screening for herself but said she keeps getting the runaround after making multiple phone calls. 'I have a PhD, and I can't manage to solve this,' she said.
CNN
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CNN
Cassie Ventura details suicidal thoughts at ‘Diddy' trial
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