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Mom Shares Her Son’s Crazy Surgery Bill To Show What Will Happen Under Trumpcare
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Mom Shares Her Son’s Crazy Surgery Bill To Show What Will Happen Under Trumpcare

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With Trumpcare’s debut just around the corner, many Americans fear that their healthcare costs are going to become too much to bear. A New Jersey mom has bravely taken up arms against the pending changes by sharing the hospital bills she pays each month to care for her chronically ill son on Twitter, and her story is so powerful that it’s shaking the Internet.

Ali Chandra, a registered nurse by profession, was still pregnant with young Ethan when she found out he would be born with heterotaxy syndrome, a rare disease that causes vital organs to be arranged abnormally, and several heart defects. Ethan had his first open heart surgery just 6 days after he was born in July of 2014, and has undergone multiple procedures since then, most recently in late February 2017. Though most of Chandra’s expenses related to Ethan’s medical needs are covered by her insurance, that could change with the new healthcare plan soon to be implemented by the Trump administration.

The most damaging law proposed by the new Trumpcare bill is the “lifetime cap,” a limit on how much money any one person can claim through their health insurance plan. These limits were banned by the Obama administration, but they could be back on the table if the GOP moves forward with their current objectives. This means that children like Ethan will most likely be already maxed out as soon as the law comes into effect, leaving their parents to foot the bill out of their own pockets. “A lifetime cap on benefits is the same as saying, “Sorry, you’re not worth keeping alive anymore. You’re just too expensive,”” Chandra wrote on Twitter.

Both the mom’s photo of her last hospital invoice and her stream of tweets that followed have gone viral, gaining over 52 thousand retweets and over 79 thousand likes. Other parents identified with Chandra’s concerns, and stood in solidarity with her staunch opposition to Trumpcare. Follow her compelling story below, and tell us what you think in the comments.

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More info: Hope for Ethan

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schin2530 avatar
Sheralyn
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Btw: How is "lab chemistry" $15k and "sterile supplies" $10k? What are they doing in the lab?? And are the supplies sterilised in mineral waters taken from the peak of Mt Everest or something?? Can someone explain this madness? (That said, in Singapore, I've been charged $5 for "disposables" - which amounted to a single ice cream stick. I could have purchased a pack of them for like $1 and brought one myself.)

crabcrab avatar
Hans
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This tell you a lot about a crooked healthcare system. Insurance is just a tiny part in it. Building a just AND efficient healthcare system is something that pretty much all countries struggle with. It either is not just, or way too expensive. And in many cases, it is both. Alas.

Load More Replies...
lyndsay-berry avatar
Lyndsay B
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

As a Canadian I can't even imagine having to pay for this. Unbelievable that people think this is the best way to live. This is not freedom.

rwagner76 avatar
Rob Wagner
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

After moving to Canada a couple of years ago, having a fairly healthy family with kids: My Canadian taxes are definitely less than my US taxes + health insurance premiums - and my health insurance coverage over the last few years turned to c**p. Add that to the fact that a doctor visit is going to cost $180 out of pocket and prescription co-pays are generally the same as _retail_ price in Canada, I'm saving a lot of money. From what I've seen with my family and a new baby since moving, the health care we need is easily as good and available as the US. (and costs nothing) It took me a couple of years to pay off the bills from my oldest son being born premature in the US (insurance covered 90%). My youngest son's costs? 0.

Load More Replies...
caseyquinn avatar
Bob 2.0
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The "Pro-Life" people are such bullshitters. They don't care about people's life, except for when they're embryos. Absolute nonsense.

ronrushing3 avatar
Ron Rushing
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Bob 2.0 How do you figure Pro-lifers have anything to do with insurance caps? How did you connect those dots because that is wacky. I'm Pro-life and know plenty of others and not a single one of them has ever expressed a desire to see insurance caps. The only people in favor of insurance caps are the shareholders of insurance companies. The only representatives or senators that would vote for ins. caps are the ones that are in those shareholders pockets. Quit trying to lump huge groups of people into one. It's stupid.

Load More Replies...
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schin2530 avatar
Sheralyn
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Btw: How is "lab chemistry" $15k and "sterile supplies" $10k? What are they doing in the lab?? And are the supplies sterilised in mineral waters taken from the peak of Mt Everest or something?? Can someone explain this madness? (That said, in Singapore, I've been charged $5 for "disposables" - which amounted to a single ice cream stick. I could have purchased a pack of them for like $1 and brought one myself.)

crabcrab avatar
Hans
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This tell you a lot about a crooked healthcare system. Insurance is just a tiny part in it. Building a just AND efficient healthcare system is something that pretty much all countries struggle with. It either is not just, or way too expensive. And in many cases, it is both. Alas.

Load More Replies...
lyndsay-berry avatar
Lyndsay B
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

As a Canadian I can't even imagine having to pay for this. Unbelievable that people think this is the best way to live. This is not freedom.

rwagner76 avatar
Rob Wagner
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

After moving to Canada a couple of years ago, having a fairly healthy family with kids: My Canadian taxes are definitely less than my US taxes + health insurance premiums - and my health insurance coverage over the last few years turned to c**p. Add that to the fact that a doctor visit is going to cost $180 out of pocket and prescription co-pays are generally the same as _retail_ price in Canada, I'm saving a lot of money. From what I've seen with my family and a new baby since moving, the health care we need is easily as good and available as the US. (and costs nothing) It took me a couple of years to pay off the bills from my oldest son being born premature in the US (insurance covered 90%). My youngest son's costs? 0.

Load More Replies...
caseyquinn avatar
Bob 2.0
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The "Pro-Life" people are such bullshitters. They don't care about people's life, except for when they're embryos. Absolute nonsense.

ronrushing3 avatar
Ron Rushing
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Bob 2.0 How do you figure Pro-lifers have anything to do with insurance caps? How did you connect those dots because that is wacky. I'm Pro-life and know plenty of others and not a single one of them has ever expressed a desire to see insurance caps. The only people in favor of insurance caps are the shareholders of insurance companies. The only representatives or senators that would vote for ins. caps are the ones that are in those shareholders pockets. Quit trying to lump huge groups of people into one. It's stupid.

Load More Replies...
Load More Comments
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