Obamacare Destroying Lives in NC
Pattie takes her message to the streets
Two of Pattie Curran’s three sons have rare bone marrow failure syndrome combined with a secondary mitochondrial disease.
Life’s been tough, but they’ve made it work.
Until Obamacare.
From the description of a new video produced by Nicole Revels (published below): this Piedmont-Triad family “has witnessed their family’s insurance coverage slip away as premiums, deductibles, and medication co-pays have drastically increased with the implementation of mandates contained within the Affordable Care Act. Pattie has now been notified that her sons’ life-saving compounded medications will be dropped from coverage all together as of September 15, though her family’s medications and treatments were covered for years with no denials prior to 2011.”
Their doctor sent the following on their behalf, clearly explaining the necessity of the coverage.
Re: XXXX Curran (dob: XXX)
To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing on behalf of my patient XXXXX who I diagnosed with Mitochondrial Disease (ICD9: 277.87).
He experiences muscle weakness and fatigue which affect his ability to engage in daily activities. He has deficient cellular energy production which causes neurological deficits, muscle pain and fatigue. He has difficulty swallowing and frequently chokes and microaspirates.
Management of XXXX’s disorder significantly depends on these [compounded medications] which have been shown in many studies to be helpful in improved muscle strength, increased energy levels, and slowing the progression of this disease (refs 1-3). He has been on the compounds that I’ve prescribed which resulted in a significant improvement in his swallowing, energy and strength as well as activities of daily living.
As his primary Mitochondrial Disease specialist, it is my opinion that without this [compound] XXXX’s muscle and organ functioning would decline significantly resulting in the life-threatening progression of his disease (well known part of natural course mitochondial disease) and subsequent extended hospital stays.
If insurance coverage for the [compounded medications] is denied, XXXX may develop neurodegenerative symptoms which can result in death as seen in mitochondrial disease.
I would be glad to answer any questions and communicate further. I would also provide lab reports, clinic notes and scientific literature substantiating my assessment and recommendations.
References:
1. Parikh S, Saneto R, Faulk MJ, Anselm I, Cohen BH, Haas R, Medicine Society TM. A modern approach to the treatment of mitochondrial disease. Curr Treat Options Neurol. 3009 Nov; 11(6):414-30.
2. Dimauro S, Rustin P. Biochim Biophys Acta. A critical approach to the therapy of mitochondrial respiratory chain and oxidative phosphorylation diseases, 2009 Dec; 1792(12): 1159-67.
3. Tarnopolsky MA. The mitochondrial cocktail: rationale for combined nutraceutical therapy in mitochondrial cytopathies. Adv Drug Deliv Rev. 2008 Oct-Nov;60(13-14): 1561-7.
Sadly, even professional intervention was not enough. The response came and Pattie posted the following on her Facebook wall:
Denied. Denied. Got the denial letters in the mail. All of their mito cocktail meds. Every. Single. One. Not covered. The letter says we can’t appeal until our plan changes (again).
We liked our plan but we can’t keep our plan. These meds were covered for many years before #Obamacare.Off to have a nervous breakdown.
You can read more about Pattie’s personal experiences at her blog.
Here is her video interview with Revels.
Donations to the family can be sent via this LINK.
On another note I have yet to find a twenty or thirty something who has signed up for Obama care. When asked why they all say the same thing…….. ( I don’t know anything about that stuff). When I tell them about the fine that will be imposed they are all (without exception) very surprised.
They then proceed to tell me that they will not pay it. I guess their tax return will bring reality home.
I’m one of those 30 somethings that doesn’t have insurance. I haven’t been to a doctor in, wow, 15 years or so? I know I’m not invincible, and pre Obamacare I was actually hoping to go ahead and purchase a catastrophic high deductible policy for big emergencies. I don’t need a healthcare plan that covers a whole bunch of stuff I’ll never need. Since it’s no longer an option, and I frankly can’t afford even the minimums of what are being demanded of me now, it looks like I will be paying the fine. It’s cheaper than the coverage…at least for now.
I figure if I can hold out for a couple years, this whole thing is going to collapse anyway under it’s own weight.
My HSA plan has kept me out of bankruptcy so far but probably in the future Obama care will take see to it that I will go broke.
So what are you going to do if you have a catastrophic injury requiring 100’s of thousands of dollars in treatment that you can’t afford? If you are like most you declare bankruptcy. And the provider passes on the cost to the rest of us that DO buy insurance (not suggesting you would do that, but lots of people do). Wouldn’t that be socialism? It’s taking money from many to pay for others that can’t. Call it what you want but that’s not right.
Personally, I would divorce my wife, give her everything, and lose nothing.
Then I would join those others on the government dole and let you pay for it. Just as I have paid for others my entire adult life, and continue to do to this day.
Ah. Another right-wing welfare queen.
Ah, Christian. You’re missing a disclosure again. Poor Pattie is a right wing Tea Party Activist and even her anecdotal story has been discredited. Her medications are covered by a number of plans on the North Carolina exchange. Dear Pattie refuses to participate because it’s “ObamaCare” and she wants to make herself look like a martyr of the terrible and inhuman Obama.
“ObamaCare” does not in any way dictate what medications are covered. That is an individual insurer decision.
Zon, there’s no missing disclosure. I know this woman and her children. Her children’s medications and the medical specialists they must see are not part of the NC exchange. This is a real tragedy that you and many like you try to deny because you refuse to believe or admit there is anything wrong with the “Affordable” Care Act. Whether a mother is a “Tea Party Activist” or not, children deserve the medical care that keeps them alive.
Hogwash. If this isn’t a bunch of made up hooey who’s the so-called Mitochondria Disease Specialist doing the writing? I can assure it’s not a real doctor because real doctors don’t talk like that.
You can live in your fantasy world all you want. I’ve seen the letters. I’ve seen the receipts. This is real. It’s actually happening to her and I’m sure she isn’t alone.
You can’t take what was already a broken healthcare payment system, add thousands of new regulations and taxes, and not expect prices to rise. You are delusional to think otherwise.
Actually, I know she isn’t alone because my boss just had her insurance company cancel a prescription coverage as well. They are forcing her into a version of the drug she’s on that has created complications in the past.
Then who wrote that letter, name the doctor. It’s a fair question if folks are going to run around crying (false) oppression. The fact of the matter is that the uninsured rate is lower now than it has ever been…ever. People have access to basic preventative care, which is far less expensive than waiting for something to break, that did not have it before.
Name the doctor and name the non-experimental treatment that is supposedly so hard to find coverage for. It does not exist. Yes, I’m calling poor Pattie a bald-faced liar. Why? Because lies and distortions are all the wing nuts have on this issue. And everybody with half a brain knows it.
Required by Obamacare.
Don’t have a clue do you?
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