Reply #25: He was 53 when diagnosed, 55 when he died

[dflprincess]

He died in May, his insurance was supposed to renew June 1 and he was worried about what the premium would go to & if I'd be able to handle it I was worried too, as I had been laid off & was trying to pay my own COBRA as well. I wonder how much the stress may have contributed to his death. We did know he was terminal but even his doctors thought there was more time.

Another year on disability and he would have qualified for Medicare. As it was, his disability payment was "too high" for Medicaid or any state assistance. At the time, the Minnesota "high risk" pool required a person be without coverage for 3 months and then, if you wanted actual coverage the premium would have run close to $1000 a month - for $400/month you got a $10,000 deductible before the "coverage" paid a dime.

Only in America does a seriously ill person have to worry about how much "coverage" they can afford and if that coverage will allow them to see a doctor or if they still won't be able to afford that. Nothing in the Profit Protection Act changes that.