Laconia Daily Sun -  — While champions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) challenged the veracity of television ads that featured individuals claiming to have suffered from the law, a local man dared anyone, including Harry Reid, the leader of the Democratic majority in the United States Senate, to question how the act jeopardized his health and finances. (If you like reading stories like this follow me on Twitter: Derek Wood

Tom Garrity has suffered from an aggressive type of lymphoma for the past eight years. He has been treated by physicians at at the Dana Farber Cancer Instutute and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, where he has undergone two bone marrow transplants and more than 50 rounds chemotherapy. He stressed that the care and treatment he has received is not offered by a provider in New Hampshire.

Garrity's wife, as the sole proprietor of a property business, was able to purchase health insurance in the small group market and carry her husband on a one-life group plan offered by Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield. However, the Affordable Care Act did away with one-life group plans, overriding state laws that permitted them. Garrity said that in February he received a notice from Anthem informing him that his policy was being discontinued and advising him to seek coverage on the New Hampshire Health Insurance Marketplace, or "exchange," established by the ACA.

Anthem is the sole carrier offering plans on the exchange. Garrity said that he reviewed all the plans offered on the exchange only to find that none included the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in their provider networks. He said that he appealed to representatives of Anthem, citing the principle of "continuity of care," which because of his longstanding relationship with the Dana Farber Cancer Institute would afford him coverage for a provider outside the network. But, he was told since his policy had been discontinued, the principle did not apply.

Garrity said that he turned to an insurance broker who found a plan with Aetna Helath Insurance that covered his treatment at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. He said that the costs were comparable to his original policy with Anthem, with lower deductibles and marginally higher premiums and co-pays. But, he stressed that the experience consumed a great deal of time and caused a great deal of anxiety.