Obamacare leaves Las Vegas man owing $407,000 in doctor bills

By JENNIFER ROBISON
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

The hospital bills are hitting Larry Basich’s mailbox.

That would be OK if Basich had health insurance. But he doesn’t.

Thing is, he should be covered. Basich, 62, bought a plan through the state’s Nevada Health Link insurance exchange in the fall. He’s been paying monthly premiums since November.

Yet the Las Vegan is stranded in a no-man’s-land where no carrier claims him, and his tab is mounting: Basich owes $407,000 for care received in January and February, when his policy was supposed to be in effect. Instead, he’s covered only for March and beyond.

Basich has begged for weeks for help from the exchange and its contractor, Xerox. But Basich’s insurance broker said Xerox seems more interested in lawyering up and covering its hide than in working out Basich’s problems. Nor is Basich the only client facing plan-selection errors through the exchange, she added.

Xerox, meanwhile, said it’s working every day to fix Basich’s problem, and its legal counsel is routine.

In the rollout of the Affordable Care Act and its insurance exchanges, you can find a success story for every failure. But Basich’s case is extreme.

WHO’S RESPONSIBLE?

Basich said he began trying to enroll on Oct. 1, the day the exchange website went live. Like many consumers, he fought technical flaws during multiple sign-up attempts. In mid-November he finally got through and chose his plan: UnitedHealthcare’s MyHPNSilver1.

“It was like reaching the third level of Doom,” Basich said of the torturous sign-up process.

Basich paid his first premium on Nov. 21, and within days the exchange withdrew the $160.77 payment from his money-market savings account. Because Basich paid a month before the Dec. 23 deadline, his coverage was to begin Jan. 1.

Weeks ticked by, but Basich received nothing to confirm he had insurance. Nevada Health Link kept telling him he was enrolled, but UnitedHealthcare said he wasn’t in their system.

Basich’s predicament went critical on Dec. 31, when he had a heart attack. His treatment, which included a triple bypass on Jan. 3, resulted in $407,000 in medical bills in January and February that no insurer is covering.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by MAC on March 18, 2014 at 2:47pm

I think his solution would eventually be bankruptcy, he might as well rack up his credit cards lol

Permalink Reply by Tara on March 18, 2014 at 10:45pm

LOL.. that would be one way of dealing with things.

Man... the poor guy! It looks as if Obamacare gave him the heart attack to begin with after all the issues he had signing up for it. “It was like reaching the third level of Doom,” Basich said of the torturous sign-up process." And then he finally gets confirmation that he is enrolled, pays his monthly premiums, unfortunately has a heart attack and then he finds out he wasn't covered when he had the heart attack... WTF!!!

Permalink Reply by MAC on March 19, 2014 at 2:42am

I think your right, it played a part for sure, the hospital bill might just finish him off, Charge a nice car and a relaxing vacation on the cards, then file bankruptcy reveling himself of all that negative pressure will go away. lol

Turn About is fair play, plus everyone gets a tax wright off.

Permalink Reply by Deep Space on March 19, 2014 at 5:41am

The other side to this that often goes undiscussed is the astronomical prices that hospitals/doctors charge for their services. (drug prices too). The prices that they charge need to be capped through law.

Permalink Reply by MAC on March 19, 2014 at 8:37pm

Absolutely correct Deep Space, over 400 thousand for a triple bypass, I know it's a serious operation but still, it should be more like under ten thousand dollars tops!

too many greedy fingers in the pie.

Permalink Reply by Deep Space on March 19, 2014 at 8:39pm

If Cuba can do it so should anyone else!

Permalink Reply by Tara on April 25, 2014 at 11:34am

Obamacare class-action suit opens a new legal frontNevada plaintiff...

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