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Pastor Diagnosed With Cancer: 'No Compassion in the Affordable Care Act'
Weekly Standard ^ | March 18, 2014 | Daniel Halper

Posted on 03/18/2014 8:24:04 AM PDT by grundle

A pastor recently diagnosed with cancer, and who is covered under Obamacare, tells a local Iowa reporter that there's "no compassion in the Affordable Care Act."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVRLCLcZljY

"Back in January, Pastor Angran was diagnosed with stage three cancer of the esophagus. He had insurance, but because of a previous heart condition, it did not cover the treatments he needed for his cancer. He found that out just minutes before receiving life-saving chemo," says the local reporter.

The pastor says, "One of the workers came and said let me talk to you. And so I went to talk to her. She says that we found out that your insurance does not include chemo."

"Over the past two months, the Angrans have emptied their savings account and racked up $50,000 in debt. They signed up for the Affordable Care Act," says the local reporter, "but found it to be anything but affordable. It will cost the couple more than $800 per month, money they just don't have."

The reporter adds, "As a pastor, Angran has devoted his life to helping others, to being compassionate. He says, 'There's no compassion in the Affordable Care Act.'" Related Stories

(Excerpt) Read more at weeklystandard.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: obamacare
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To: Star Traveler

Pre-existing conditions cannot be used to deny buying a plan...but that has nothing to do with whether the plan actually covers the treatment in a meaningful way.


21 posted on 03/18/2014 8:53:38 AM PDT by lepton ("It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into"--Jonathan Swift)
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To: Star Traveler

The story did not read that he was denied treatment under Obamacare but that the premium of $800.00 a month was unaffordable.

I’ve got news for him, as much as I loath Obamacare that $800.00 a month for both he and his wife (the article was not clear if it included her) is actually very cheap as far as individual insurance plans go. Especially if it will cover the majority of his cancer treatment costs.

I dropped my private coverage when it increased to $700.00 a month for me alone and that was several years ago. I wonder what he was paying under his previous plan. I have a feeling it may have been one provided through his employment as a pastor so he did not have to pay his full share.


22 posted on 03/18/2014 8:53:58 AM PDT by lastchance ("Nisi credideritis, non intelligetis" St. Augustine)
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To: lepton

So how does that fit into this story where it says ...

“... but because of a previous heart condition, it did not cover the treatments he needed for his cancer.”


23 posted on 03/18/2014 9:00:12 AM PDT by Star Traveler (Remember to keep the Messiah of Israel in the One-World Government that we look forward to coming)
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To: Star Traveler

Well, maybe we’re splitting hairs, and that’s what our lawmakers do.

But they would say he had insurance. He just didn’t like the fine print. If he’d had a second heart condition, or an ulcer, he would have been fully covered. But for Stage 3 cancer with prior heart trouble, he wasn’t. I agree it sucks, by the way. But, they’d say that he had insurance.


24 posted on 03/18/2014 9:00:57 AM PDT by Pearls Before Swine
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To: yldstrk

well Pastor,......You probably voted for this freak along with your wife.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Why would you assume that? Is he a Black Pastor?


25 posted on 03/18/2014 9:03:03 AM PDT by Din Maker (Rand Paul, Rick Perry endorse Mitch McConnell over Bevin. Neither will ever get my vote in 2016.)
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To: lastchance

So ... he’s complaining because he wants Obamacare to cover his problem - BUT - he doesn’t want to pay the monthly premium for it?! .... LOL ...


26 posted on 03/18/2014 9:03:10 AM PDT by Star Traveler (Remember to keep the Messiah of Israel in the One-World Government that we look forward to coming)
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To: lastchance

One of the things about Obamacare is that it did not raise prices uniformly. Many people in places with ridiculous costs due to their own states regulations saw only small increases, or in some cases, decreases. What it primarily did was make places where insurance prices were relatively reasonable just as messed up as New York, Connecticut, etc. where the cost of living and the standard wages are much higher.

It’s like suddenly getting charged Manhattan rental prices for everyone...which doesn’t affect the people living in Manhattan already very much, but is devastating for the family living in small-town Virginia earning a moderate wage in a low-cost area...with riders for all the stuff that happens to folks in Manhattan and dropping coverage for things common in rural Virginia.


27 posted on 03/18/2014 9:05:56 AM PDT by lepton ("It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into"--Jonathan Swift)
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To: Pearls Before Swine

I read it a little bit closer, because of another person’s comments to me. It appears he did not want to pay the monthly premiums for Obamacare. So he didn’t get coverage because Obamacare was not signed up by him.

It was his other insurance policy that did not cover it!


28 posted on 03/18/2014 9:06:14 AM PDT by Star Traveler (Remember to keep the Messiah of Israel in the One-World Government that we look forward to coming)
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To: Star Traveler

Obamacare will cover pre-existing conditions...PERIOD!


29 posted on 03/18/2014 9:08:47 AM PDT by Mr. K (If you like your constitution, you can keep it...Period.)
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To: Star Traveler

Most likely because it is of the heart condition, not the fact that he had it before he got the insurance. Like organ transplants on someone with late stage cancer.


30 posted on 03/18/2014 9:09:05 AM PDT by lepton ("It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into"--Jonathan Swift)
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To: Mr. K

I always thought that was the case.

It appears that this story is about a pastor who REFUSED to get Obamacare, because the premium was too much. So, instead the pastor has to pay many times more out of pocket under his “non-Obamacare” policy (which he apparently had all along).

This is a very misleading story!


31 posted on 03/18/2014 9:11:26 AM PDT by Star Traveler (Remember to keep the Messiah of Israel in the One-World Government that we look forward to coming)
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To: Star Traveler

I read it a bit closer now too. The article dies from vaguery, pronouns, and imprecision.


32 posted on 03/18/2014 9:12:28 AM PDT by lepton ("It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into"--Jonathan Swift)
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To: lepton

I now see that the pastor refused to get Obamacare, because he didn’t want to pay the monthly premium. This story was about his “non-Obamacare” policy not covering this treatment.

The pastor now sounds more like a idiot to me ... than anything else.


33 posted on 03/18/2014 9:13:31 AM PDT by Star Traveler (Remember to keep the Messiah of Israel in the One-World Government that we look forward to coming)
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To: Star Traveler

The things I said are correct, but may be irrelevant to the issue at hand.


34 posted on 03/18/2014 9:13:57 AM PDT by lepton ("It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into"--Jonathan Swift)
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To: grundle

Betcha dollars to donuts pastor voted only for Democrats his whole life and voted for obama at least twice.


35 posted on 03/18/2014 9:17:03 AM PDT by catnipman (Cat Nipman: Vote Republican in 2012 and only be called racist one more time!)
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To: lepton

Yeah ... I understand.


36 posted on 03/18/2014 9:17:50 AM PDT by Star Traveler (Remember to keep the Messiah of Israel in the One-World Government that we look forward to coming)
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To: catnipman

No matter who the pastor voted for ... his personal financial position would be a whole lot better now ... if he had gotten an Obamacare policy, instead of refusing to do so ... and instead staying with his non-Obamacare policy.


37 posted on 03/18/2014 9:20:34 AM PDT by Star Traveler (Remember to keep the Messiah of Israel in the One-World Government that we look forward to coming)
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To: lastchance

You are right....that $800 a month must include subsidies. I checked for just Hubby and me....$1300 mnth and a $12k deductible, for the Silver plan.


38 posted on 03/18/2014 9:30:15 AM PDT by sheana
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To: Star Traveler

“...pre-existing conditions couldn’t be used to deny service. I guess that’s not true.”

Kind of like when Barry said, “If you like your plan, you can keep your plan. If you like your doctor, you can keep you doctor. Period.”


39 posted on 03/18/2014 9:41:24 AM PDT by Flagpole Erectus
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To: Star Traveler; silverleaf
He got the treatment. So, it wasn’t about not getting treated ... it was about who was going to pay for it.
Did some digging. In this article (http://freebeacon.com/iowa-pastor-diagnosed-with-cancer-finds-obamacare-anything-but-affordable/), it says his ACA insurance doesn't start for another two weeks, and that he finds the price of the ACA insurance that covers the treatment to be unaffordable. So it's his old insurance that doesn't cover the treatment. And basically, he's ticked that Obummercare doesn't pay for the costs racked up by his old insurance. My sympathy more or less goes away at that point.
Something is not right with this news story.
It doesn't tell the whole story. See my additional link I just posted.
40 posted on 03/18/2014 9:41:24 AM PDT by GAFreedom (Freedom rings in GA!)
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