The ACA and cancer patients..

[iamthebandfanman]

Someone in my local region has been sharing a donation page to someone who lives in the surrounding area..
does the ACA change anything for her?

heres a link to her story and donation page..

https://www.giveforward.com/fundraiser/tlq3/angel-mcilwain-s-breast-cancer-fund

thanks to anyone who has a better understanding of these things than me!

ive been blessed to not have anyone in my family be diagnosed with cancer in recent history.. (tho 14 years ago my grandfather passed away because of it.. but I was too young to want to know those kinds of details).. so if someone with any experience with this could shed some light?

just want to make sure its legit before I start passing it around

[elleng]

1. No expert here but

I suspect she'll be able to get insurance that would do better for her than:

' Because I am terminally ill, I am forced to give up my private insurance and sign up for medicare. I am supposed to pay $760 each month toward my cancer treatments out of $1350 I have to live on each month and if I earn more I will lose the $590 Medicaid spend down and will have to pay 20% of treatment costs and more for drugs. My Xgeva shot costs $4500.00 each and I pay a $45. copay each month plus labs and all of the rest of my prescriptions. States can set Medigap requirements for those under 65, and 30 states have guaranteed issue for Medigap. Ohio is not one of the 30 so in Ohio high-need Medicare beneficiaries under 65 are unable to obtain a Medigap policy. In addition, I self pay for health insurance for my children.'

She will still need $$$ for her other regular needs, so it seems that a fundraiser is perfectly appropriate.

[Pencil man]

2. Healthcare for the terminally ill

The point is that she isn't allowed to buy private insurance. That is a federal law, so despite the fact that she could get better insurance on the market place she is not allowed to by law. There is a great big black whole in the healthcare system that was not addressed by the ACA. It concerns terminally ill patients that survive more than 29 months. If you survive for that long with a terminal illness, you must take Medicare if you qualify. You do not get to choose your insurance. You must take Medicare. And only some states have laws protecting their Medicare patients under the age of 65. Ohio does not offer any protections to Medicare patients under the age of 65. The original ACA had a clause to cover this particular group of people but it was traded away in order to get the rest of the act covered.

So she has NO choice. She must take the Medicare. That is way people with terminal illnesses end up dying in poverty.

[gopiscrap]

5. Welcome to DU

[Pencil man]

3. From Kiaser health news

"Federal Medigap rules generally prohibit insurers from rejecting applicants or charging them higher premiums because of pre-existing conditions, as long as they apply within six months of turning 65 and getting Medicare coverage for doctor visits and other outpatient services, says Peter Ashkenaz, a spokesman for the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. However, when Congress created this protection in 1992, he says, it exempted disabled Medicare beneficiaries under 65, a group that now totals 8 million people."

[Cooley Hurd]

4. Wilhelm II is not amused...

...neither is Henry J.

I keed... I keed!