type problems will only continue to magnify IMHO

they will always find a way to refuse to pay.

some jackasses will blame this on Obamacare.

so yes, the idea is to falsely connect this man's plight to the ACA.

is the best of all possible worlds, the best we could have gotten, etc. etc.

know that for profit health care is a racket and does not care about peoples lives, only their profits.
Sadly, Obama care (ACA) was built on the profit motive. In that way the ACA failed. Yes more people are insured and that is good (especially for the insurers) but we know, as one of the few 1st world countries without universal, not for profit health care that profit has no place in health care.
The Dr.'s who support their Hippocratic oath, know this too. Those profit driven Dr.'s do not need to be Dr.'s, IMO.
I feel it is more of an indictment on capitalism than ACA, However both are unhealthy.

He chose a private Medicare advantage plan with a limited network instead of the standard Medicare plan that was open to him.

I'm sorry about what happened to him but Obamacare had nothing to do with it.

for a Medicare advantage plan which is like an HMO.

Today people have to be their own advocate. They cannot assume the insurance company or even the Medical facility will do right by them. Part of the process involves becoming informed, so you can make an informed decision. Second opinions are essential for serious issues, but most important, if it is a life or death situation that your insurance company won't cover, don't let the insurance company determine your treatment.

If the person can wait until open enrollment, then they should be able to get off the Medicare advantage plan, and switch to regular Medicare with supplemental F or G. Yes, it would be considerably more expensive, but I would assume the situation is serious.

If time is of the essence, then have the procedure done in spite of the insurance company, and appeal the decision, at least appropriate treatment was being given

"He chose a private Medicare advantage plan with a limited network instead of the standard Medicare plan that was open to him. ?"

The standard Medicare leaves you hanging for just about 20 % of everything. That's why he chose a Medicare Advantage plan, which is what I have. How was he supposed to know they wouldn't pay?

So far I am much luckier as my Advantage plan is through MVP, a not-for-profit company. The other biggest local company is Excellus BC/BS of Western NY, which is also not-for-profit.

I'm glad you had a better option than he did.

But these Medicare and Medicare advantage plans have nothing to do with Obamacare.

medicare has nothing to do with the ACA.

Must be Obama's fault.



I'm also sad that bad things happen to people, but its dishonest to blame these things on something that has jack shit to do with it. Some people have an agenda. No matter what the evidence, their conclusion will always be predictably the same.

When I was diagnosed with breast cancer, there was a young woman who introduced herself to me on the phone as the person who "approved my surgery". As if there was some question whether I should have the cancer removed or not???

Recently I made the decision to have my remaining breast reduced and not have the reconstruction done on the other side. I have no idea how much money it is saving them since one of my reconstruction options was a 10-12 hr surgery with 3 days in ICU. I was not going through that much surgery for appearance but imagine how much that would cost them.

This surgery is essentially part of the original deal with the breast cancer diagnosis, so I was not asking for special treatment. It is all the same insurance company, so an approval which should have taken about 15 minutes, took about a month. Imagine if it had been life threatening??

and didn't have long to live, so, why waste the Money on treatment.

There's your Death Panels. It's the Insurance Corporation Bean-Counters that make the medical decisions, not the ACA.

For-profit health insurance should not even be part of the discussion. Now it's part of our lives forever.

than they do when subjected to medical treatments. The treatments don't extend their lives -- just the profit for the providers.

But none of this has anything to do with the ACA.

85 year old patients with stage 4 cancer to torture themselves with expensive, painful treatments that won't extend their lives? But who bring plenty of profit to the doctors and hospitals?

for their customer.

On the actual linked article, is an ad for Banana Republic, how apropos. Manga is it's own banana republic. And a Death Panel, not a government death panel as in Sarah Palin's fantasies, but a private corporate death panel who has no real consequences for murdering people.

I have a Humana medicare advantage plan that has already put me $100,000 in the hole. It's not O care but insurance companies protecting profits. I'm leaving the plan the first of January and picking up a drug plan from anthem. I only have a couple of years left but I don't want the wife to have to listen to the insurance industry whine about not getting paid.
When hospice comes I will be filing bankruptcy.

I almost died because I did not have health insurance.

The disease treatment industrial complex is a devouring monster that always needs sick people to eat.

All that could be done was extend it for a very short time, if at all. (Cancer patients in hospice often live longer than comparable patients subjected to medical procedures.) An 85 year old with stage 4 cancer has very little life expectancy.

Not disputing some unconscionable insurance companies' policies. But, the man was dying. No getting around that, even with any/all treatment options. He was suffering a condition that would cause him to DIE (at 85 - not a bad lifespan, IMO.) He faced the lack of a future, and wasn't reconciled to it. Some people need to blame someone or something on the inevitable outcome of life. IE: death. It seems that this man was unfortunate enough to have advanced cancer AND chose his insurance coverage poorly. And you're right about the futility and torture aspects. I have personal experience of that.

vested financial interest in pushing these ineffective procedures on their dying patients. I'm not saying they're consciously torturing their patients for money. But that's often the result of what they do. They make money and the dying patient suffers needlessly.

terminally ill sister spent months in ICU having tortuous, experimental procedures that would never have saved her. And everyone, including doctors, knew it. As long as the coverage didn't run out and she kept breathing, they kept at it. It was heartbreaking. I'll never get over it.

Stories like yours are what made us look into hospice when my father was dying. Later, we had hospice for my mother in law. It's the way I want to go, unless I can die in my sleep.

Hospice for me, too, unless I have the opportunity to choose Brittany Maynard's way. (Not yet legal in my state, though.)

if so, how did they rule?