A New York woman suffering from a
neurological disease that has required four brain surgeries has been dropped by
all of her doctors and denied medications due to her Obamacare plan.
By Wynton Hall 16 April 2014
Breitbart
"I've been vomiting. I lost 22 pounds. The pain is
unbearable," said Margaret Figueroa, 49, on Wednesday. "My medication helps
me function during the day."
Figueroa suffers from a disease known as Arnold Chiari Malformation and
Syringomyelia. Even though the Obamacare plan she purchased assured her that
she was covered, her insurance card was denied when she went to fill her
prescriptions. Then she learned that none of her doctors accept her Obamacare
plan. Figueroa says she cannot find a doctor who accepts her Obamacare plan;
indeed, there are only six doctors in all of Staten Island who take her plan,
none of whom she's been able to get appointments with.
Figueroa's congressman, Rep. Michael Grimm (R-NY), intervened to help her
obtain some of her vital prescriptions. Grimm says he's already received calls
from at least a dozen Staten Island residents facing the same problem with
Obamacare's "narrow networks" – extreme restrictions to
doctor and hospital access imposed by Obamacare.
"Even though the insurance company cashed your check, it doesn't mean
it (the policy) has been implemented," said Grimm at a Wednesday press
conference with Figueroa. "That's the problem – that the back
end of Obamacare hasn't been fully built. You can go on the front end of an
application and look at a list of plans, but what they don't tell you is that
many of those plans don't have doctors yet."
Figueroa is not alone.
As Breitbart News reported in January, the Washington Post warned that "Obamacare's
narrow networks are going to make people furious – but they might
control costs." Breitbart News contributor Scot Vorse learned the hard way
about Obamacare's narrow networks when the nearest dentist who accepted the
mandatory dental plan he was required to purchase for his children was over 100 miles away.
Obamacare's narrow networks have also shut out access to top cancer
centers. The Associated Press says just 4 of 19 nationally recognized comprehensive cancer centers offer
Obamacare access through all insurance plans in their state Obamacare
exchanges, and a McKinsey and Co. study revealed 38% of all Obamacare plans
only allow patients to pick from just 30% of the largest 20 hospitals in their
areas.
Experts say the narrow network horror stories will only grow as more and
more Obamacare customers attempt to use their Obamacare insurance only to
realize its harsh realities.
Obamacare remains deeply unpopular nationally. The latest USA Today/Pew
Research poll finds that just 37% of Americans now support Obamacare.
No comments:
Post a Comment