We've covered a number of horrible cases involving individuals and families being victimized by Obamacare, but this Michigan family's plight is uniquely heartbreaking:
A Bangor Township family of four, all of whom have disabilities, say they fall within a niche that makes the Affordable Care Act more of a burden than a blessing. Now, they say, they'll be paying nearly $8,000 more per year for medical care after being denied coverage through Obamacare. The family in question is the Daverts — husband and wife Ken and Melissa and their 15-year-old twins Austin and Michaela. The twins and their mother are afflicted with osteogensis imperfecta, a disease that makes their bones extremely fragile. They are also highly susceptible to lung infections. Ken Davert has cerebral palsy. Ken and Melissa “Missy” Davert receive their income from Social Security disability payments and have health insurance through Medicare, but that plan does not cover their children. Until recently, the children were covered by a private Blue Cross plan...“We received a letter from Blue Cross maybe four months ago stating that their plan was going to be canceled due to new requirements of Obamacare,” said Missy Davert, adding that the letter did not state what about the Affordable Care Act requirements necessitated her children be dropped from their plan. “I can imagine they didn’t fit criteria of the new plan. There were some particular benefits the new act didn’t cover.”
Obamacare tossed the Daverts' kids off of their existing Blue Cross plan, forcing the couple to contend with Democrats' lie of the year:
The Daverts then applied for coverage for their twins through the federal government’s plan. The first time they did so, their application was lost after they sent it and the second time, they were denied. They then filed a written appeal in mid January, which could take up to 90 days for a response. “What we did in the meantime, because their insurance was ending Dec. 31, we had to go out and buy a separate plan directly through Blue Cross/Blue Shield,” Missy Davert said. “The president had come on TV and said, ‘If you like your plan, you can keep your plan, we won’t require you to get marketplace insurance for another year.’ But Blue Cross/Blue Shield would not continue their plan, despite what the president said.”
Insult to injury:
The Daverts ended up purchasing a Blue Cross Gold Plan for their children...However, the out-of-pocket expenses under the new plan are more than four times what the Daverts had to previously pay. “The premiums aren’t an issue for us,” Missy Davert said. “The premiums under both plans are essentially the same. What could be costly for us are the out-of-pocket expenses. In our old plan, the most we would pay was $2,500 combined out-of-pocket per year. With the very best plan we could get them under Blue Cross, we have a $5,100 out-of-pocket maximum for each child for a total of $10,200...That’s the big issue,” Ken Davert said. “That’s an incredible amount to absorb,” Missy Davert continued.
The story goes on to note that the offices of Michigan's two Democratic Senators declined to comment about this couple's ordeal, while their Democratic Congressman helpfully phoned up their insurance company to ask why their plan was canceled. Here's a hint. I'll leave you with two conservative healthcare wonks wondering whether or not the law's wildly unpopular individual mandate tax can survive politically, particularly in light of the fact that the administration has already issued a waiver for potentially millions of adversely-impacted Americans. Also, Virginia's newly announced US Senate candidate, Ed Gillespie, is out with his first issue-based web ad of the year. Expect a heavy dose of narrative-building ads on this subject matter over the coming months:
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