TMC PULSE

t m c » p u l s e | n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 6 7 self-employed, and when I had left my previous employer I opted not to take COBRA. So, as a freelance marketing consultant, I approached insurance companies about being covered for health insurance and they said, 'We'll cover you, but not anything gynecolog- ical-related because you've had three previous gynecological surgeries in the past three years.' I decided, why get insurance if the thing I'm going to need insurance for will not be covered? And then, three months later, I was diag- nosed with ovarian cancer. So, I cashed out my savings that I had accrued in the five years I was with my previous employer, and I had my surgery. But I had no way to pay for treat- ment. So for about six weeks, I went without treatment while I tried to navigate the social services system. I finally figured out that in my home- town, I could get chemotherapy done through the Nueces County Hospital District. They basically saved my life, because there was nobody else who was willing to give me chemo with no health insurance. I had to declare myself Credit: AP Photo/Eric Gay indigent. I had to stop working. I had to stop all my freelancing and move in with my parents. And that qualified me as indigent. By the time they started my treatment, the cancer had already spread to my liver and the lining of my stomach; it's a very aggressive cancer. It took about five cycles of chemotherapy, but by the fall of 2002, I was declared in remission. Once I healed, I started to become very active in the cancer advocacy world. I'm an advocate for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, called ACS CAN; Livestrong; the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance Research Fund; and various different cancer organizations. Since 2003, I've traveled to Capitol Hill at least 25 times to meet with our legislators to let them know that we want to make cancer a national priority. Every time we visit we have a different thing that's on our agenda, something different that we want to focus on. I'm just not giving up. And they know I'm not giving up. They know that I have cancer as a prior- ity. Because if we don't speak up, it's like we don't even exist. In my ideal world, everybody would qualify for health care. I had market- place insurance for about two years, and I was thrilled with it. Thrilled with it. Because I was no longer discriminated against because of my cancer history. There were no more pre-existing con- dition clauses in health insurance, and I thought it was utopia, basically. Fast forward to last November, and the new marketplace insurance plans come out, and all of a sudden my plan is no longer on the system. It took a couple of weeks of dig- ging and researching, but come to find out that the insurance companies say that they lost money on marketplace plans, so they were able to find a way to exclude pre-existing conditions. They figured out a way to discriminate against cancer patients in Texas, after all. They took out any marketplace plan that covered MD Anderson. So can you imagine, my heart sank when I figured that out. I felt betrayed. I felt like an outcast again, like they were discriminating against me again. MD Anderson said their hands were tied, but I hold them accountable, too, because it's a two-way street. I know it is. They were pointing their fingers at the insurance compa- nies and the insurance companies were pointing their fingers at MD Anderson. Both of them have some culpability here. Long story short, Humana ended up coming up with one plan, off market- place, that would cover MD Anderson. But there are also blessings in this muddy mess that has been created because of my health. Multiple, multiple blessings. And my surgeons at MD Anderson are part of that blessing, for sure. I feel like I'm getting the best care in the world. — REBECCA ESPARZA

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