Edie Littlefield Sundby of San Diego wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal telling readers how she lost her cancer ‘great’ cancer doctors, all thanks to ObamaCARE. Edie Littlefield Sundby now wonders how much longer she can live, because of ObamaCARE. Heckuva’ job Democrats! Edie Sundby has fought and survived stage-4 gallbladder cancer for seven years now. The survival rate for stage-4 gallbladder is only about 2%. Her insurance, United Healthcare has spent $1.2 million dollars over the last several years (with her so called pre-existing condition of cancer.) But now, because of ObamaCARE, and the rules and regulations that all Democrats voted in favor of, the healthcare she had from United Healthcare which kept her alive, is deemed no longer ‘good enough’ or as Democrats would call it a ‘lousy plan.’
Now, Edie Littlefield Sundby has two options. Go on the ObamaCARE exchanges and lose her great cancer doctors that have kept her alive, or pay 40-50% for the privilege of starting over with an unfamiliar insurance company and impaired benefits. But at least men with erticle problems will have their Viagra covered, and abortion on demand is available right?
You would think it would be simple to find a health-exchange plan that allows me, living in San Diego, to continue to see my primary oncologist at Stanford University and my primary care doctors at the University of California, San Diego. Not so. UCSD has agreed to accept only one Covered California plan—a very restrictive Anthem EPO Plan. EPO stands for exclusive provider organization, which means the plan has a small network of doctors and facilities and no out-of-network coverage (as in a preferred-provider organization plan) except for emergencies. Stanford accepts an Anthem PPO plan but it is not available for purchase in San Diego (only Anthem HMO and EPO plans are available in San Diego).
So if I go with a health-exchange plan, I must choose between Stanford and UCSD. Stanford has kept me alive—but UCSD has provided emergency and local treatment support during wretched periods of this disease, and it is where my primary-care doctors are.
Before the Affordable Care Act, health-insurance policies could not be sold across state lines; now policies sold on the Affordable Care Act exchanges may not be offered across county lines.
What happened to the president’s promise, “You can keep your health plan”? Or to the promise that “You can keep your doctor”? Thanks to the law, I have been forced to give up a world-class health plan. The exchange would force me to give up a world-class physician.
For a cancer patient, medical coverage is a matter of life and death. Take away people’s ability to control their medical-coverage choices and they may die. I guess that’s a highly effective way to control medical costs. Perhaps that’s the point.