(Augusta) Consumers for Affordable Health Care
(CAHC) is pleased the Maine House and Senate
recently enacted LD
1620, "An Act to Protect Health Care Consumers from
Catastrophic Medical Debt." The bill now
heads to the Governor who has said he will sign this
bill into law. However, CAHC is deeply saddened
to know one of the bill's strongest supporters died
before ever seeing this bill become law. During the same days the House
and Senate were voting on LD 1620, Richard "Rocky"
D'Andrea from Limerick, Maine lost his battle to
cancer. He died March 22, 2010
peacefully in his home.
LD 1620 asks that
lifetime and annual caps be eliminated from health
insurance plans. D'Andrea and his
wife Theresa learned first-hand how devastating caps can
be. They
spoke at a press conference in February when the bill
was first introduced and testified at a public hearing
on the bill. Rocky was diagnosed with cancer in fall of
2008. The
family hit the lifetime cap on their insurance plan soon
after. It
left them with a $1.6 million dollar hospital bill after
a four week hospital stay and bills that piled up as
Rocky's care continued.
"Rocky was all about volunteerism and
giving back to his community. What Rocky did
in his last days to help pass this bill is just the
epitome of what he is. I will have a
sense of relief and peace once the Governor signs this
bill to know that no other Maine family will have to be
as traumatized through the whole ordeal as we have been,
and that they may be able to get the care they need when
they need it,"
says Theresa D'Andrea.
While Rocky was
fighting for his life, the family was also fighting to
keep a roof over their head. After hitting
their insurance cap, they spent their retirement, their
life savings and charged up all of their credit cards to
try and pay for Rocky's care.
"The D'Andrea's had insurance. They
paid their premiums every month. They paid their
taxes-between the two of them, for sixty years. Rocky served in
the Army during Vietnam. Yet, Theresa
will likely still be paying for his care for years after
his death.
This is no way to treat our hardworking Maine
families.
We hope, as Theresa said, that she will find some
happiness in knowing Rocky's fight was not in vain and
that this bill will help others," says CAHC
Communication Coordinator Cherilee Budrick.
After making many
arrangements with various medical providers and
pharmaceutical companies, Theresa's medical debt is now
about $60,000.
A
memorial service for Rocky will be held Monday April 12,
2010, at 10:00 am at St. Matthew's Church in Limerick.
In lieu of flowers, his family requests
donations are sent to Theresa D'Andrea at PO Box 297,
Limerick, Maine 04048 for distribution to
foundations that benefited Mr. D'Andrea during his
illness.
CAHC released a report
last month, "False Security: Health Insurance That
Doesn't Pay When You Need It Most," which explains why
getting rid of these caps is better for Maine people and
our economy.
"We are so saddened by
Rocky's passing. We hope that what happened to Rocky and
Theresa will never happen to another individual or
family. With their support, Maine lawmakers decided to
outlaw these limits. We are hopeful that other states
will adopt the Maine law to prohibit annual caps before
2014 when the federal reform goes into effect. We are
very pleased that the federal reform eliminates caps on
lifetime limits even sooner," says CAHC Executive
Director Joe Ditré.
National Health
Reform eliminates lifetime caps within a year and
eliminates annual caps on health insurance plans in
2014, so Maine families will get much more immediate
relief with the passing of LD 1620.
LD
1620 is expected to go to the Governor's desk within a
week.
