Loralynn from Ohio: Spent Her Life Savings to Pay for COBRA
Loralynn did everything right. She ate right, stayed active playing volleyball, didn't smoke or drink to excess. But in spite of these good health choices, her doctor diagnosed her with diabetes in 2005.
Starting in May 2008, when the failing economy prompted her employer to reorganize and lay her off, she spent her entire savings paying for COBRA over the course of 18 months. This money would have been her children's inheritance. That December, her doctor also diagnosed her with congestive heart disease.
Now Loralynn’s COBRA plan has expired, and she is uninsured. Up until this point, she’d always been able to maintain jobs that provided quality health insurance. But now she's having trouble just making ends meet. The bank has put a lien on her home. Her children are paying for her insulin and other medication, and she can’t test her blood sugar as often as her doctor says she should. She can’t afford to see this doctor to manage her diabetes anymore, so she’s trying to manage it on her own.
Loralynn is in dire need of health insurance, and she's risking her life to get it. Because her heart is under great stress, her doctors urge her to avoid working. Some have even recommended that she get herself on the list for a heart transplant — she’d be a good candidate, because she's not overweight. But she's vigorously searching for a job that will offer her the coverage she needs. She has no other choice.
"Under new plans, no child under age 19 will be denied coverage for a pre-existing conditions, period. Adults who have been without insurance for six months and who have been unable to obtain insurance because of a pre-existing condition, can apply for coverage under the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP)."
Insurers can no longer cut someone after the fact.
New screening procedures are now in place for health care providers to eliminate fraud and waste in the health care system.
Medicare Part D enrollees who hit the Medicare prescription drug benefit gap in 2010 will automatically receive a $250 rebate check.
Effective immediately, qualified small employers get tax credits of up to 35% of premiums for offering coverage.
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