Congresswoman: If Not For Obamacare Glitches, My Husband Might Still Be Alive

[uhnope]

Source: Huffington Post

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) suggested Tuesday that had her husband not encountered difficulties enrolling in health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, he might still be alive today.

Alvin Wiederspahn, a former Democratic member of the Wyoming state House, died in October of a heart attack in his sleep. He was 65. Lummis recounted the experience to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Administrator Marilyn B. Tavenner, who was called to testify before the House Oversight Committee on transparency issues regarding the Affordable Care Act. The Wyoming Republican said that even though her husband was enrolled for insurance in the D.C. health insurance exchange, "when we filed claims, we were told we were not enrolled in Obamacare." The couple filed claims once more, Lummis said, and once again they were told they were not enrolled.

"My husband was having chest pains at the time that he was told we were not enrolled in Obamacare, and come to find out, he didn't have all of the tests that he was advised by his physician to have," said Lummis. "So on October 24, a week before the election, my husband went to sleep and never woke up."

Lummis said that her husband had chosen to forgo a test prescribed by his doctor -- a decision, she said, that was partly due to the confusion over his enrollment status. "I'm not telling you that my husband died because of Obamacare," she said. "He died because he had a massive heart attack in his sleep. But I am telling you that during the course of time that he was having tests by a physician and was told we were not covered by Obamacare, that he then decided not to have the last test the doctor asked him to have."

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/09/cynthia-lummis-husband-obamacare_n_6296920.html

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UPDATE: I call BS. Not only did her husband, despite chest pains, decide not to get the tests even when the doctor actually prescribed them but according to this she's filthy rich--worth $20 million+. And yet they wait for their insurance to get cleared up to follow the doctor's orders?

On her using her husband's death in a grandstanding display less than two months after he died, no comment. She should look in the mirror if she wants to cast blame. Miser of the year award?

[marym625]

1. Two things

First, I thought this had been debunked already.

Two, who calls their insurance Obamacare when discussing with physician or hospital billing people?

[uhnope]

4. No but I just found out she's filthy rich!

$20 million according to this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynthia_Lummis#Personal_life
and yet they wait for their insurance to get cleared up to get heart tests while he's having chest pains?
Buuulllll Shhhhhhhit

[marym625]

15. yep. bullshit. n/t

[Warpy]

19. What kind of person sitting on $20 million won't call an ambulance

if her husband is having chest pain? If she wanted free care, why hadn't he gotten his Medicare card? Hint: you can apply for it a couple of months in advance of your birthday.

This whole story stinks to high heaven of Republican horseshit.

[WinstonSmith4740]

38. Horseshit on top of bullshit!

You don't even have to apply for Medicare...you're automatically enrolled at 65. All you have to do is tell them if you want just Part A (which is free and covers hospitalization, etc.) or both A & B. You have to pay for Part B, but as insurance goes, it's pretty damn inexpensive. Since I still work, and have great insurance at work, I chose just Part A for now, and will start Part B when I retire in June.

So if this guy was 65, he was already insured. This is typical Republican bullshit, just like Death Panels and everything else they came up with fighting this program. Plus, of course, the whole "worth $20 million" part. What kind of person sits on that kind of money while their spouse is sick? Greedy, Republican assholes, that's who.

[jwirr]

34. You are correct. We are not insured by Obamacare (ACA). If we are enrolled we have already

select an insurance company out of all the options and we then give that information to the doctor.

[elleng]

2. Right, her husband decided!

She 'pretended' she wasn't blaming Obamacare.

[Downwinder]

3. I'm confused, he was 65, why was he not on Medicare?

[Hoyt]

5. Exactly. He might still have been on an employer plan, but not an ACA

Last edited Wed Dec 10, 2014, 06:24 AM - Edit history (1)

plan. I'm sorry he died, but it wasn't related to Obama care.

[INdemo]

27. If a person is on or elgible for medicare

when applying for ACA insurance it would probably be denied. Besides that, the very best supplement plan in addition to Medicare would probably be less than $200.00 at age 65.If applying for a supplement plan between the allowable time frame (Oct-Dec7) medical history does not affect the coverage or premium.
This is typically a Republican story this woman was hoping to get on Faux news and all the right wing papers. That is all this about.

[Hekate]

6. I'm confused. His wife is an elected official--they have their own insurance plans.

Something is definitely off kilter with this narrative.

[uhnope]

9. Members of Congress are required to get their health insurance from the Obamacare exchanges under a

Members of Congress are required to get their health insurance from the Obamacare exchanges under a part of the law authored by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). Previously, lawmakers had received the same health benefits as federal employees.

But to me the pertinent detail is her being worth $20 million but her suffering husband waits to follow doctor's orders so that insurance can pay for it? WTF?

[Roland99]

23. Bingo!

[Kalidurga]

7. She killed her husband someone should investigate this

she withheld medical proceedures she could afford, in some places that constitutes neglect.

[merrily]

8. I call bs, too. Someone in Congress with 20 million bucks couldn't get this glitched cleared?

Couldn't spring for a Doctor's appointment and get it cleared up later?

This ring less true than any fairy tale I heard as a kid.

[merrily]

16. Thanks. That's kind, but I'll own up. I didn't read enough. It's bedtime.

Still, it's not as though she's some anonymous factory worker with limited knowledge of English with no ability to get this sorted out. Someone in Congress from her state would have taken her call.

[alp227]

35. Oh wait it turns out she IS in congress, since 2009!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynthia_Lummis

[merrily]

36. Thanks. LOL, we're some duo!

[Kennah]

11. It would seem that her husband succumbed to a powerful disease--Greed

With a net work of $20 to $75 million, they could have afforded to pay for a fucking heart transplant had that been needed, but they chose not to pay for a test. They were more worried about their loss of tuppence, and tuppence is tuppence.

[merrily]

17. I think she made up the whole thing after the fact.

I believe her husband died.+ What happened before that, I have no clue, but I am not buying this story.

[JDPriestly]

12. She makes a great argument for single payer.

With single payer, everyone is enrolled. The doctors get paid if you use their services.

Nobody gets denied services on the ground that they aren't insured.

Her story is unbelievable if she is worth anything close to $20 million. Even if she is only worth $1 million or far, far less, she should have made sure her husband got healthcare and then worried about paying for it later.

This story does not sound true. I cannot believe that a hospital wouldt turn away a person who is having a heart attack over money or lack of insurance, especially not someone fairly prominent. Hospitals are required to provide emergency care, I believe.

[merrily]

18. +1

Let's tell her.

[stillwaiting]

26. She's simply using her husband's death to fight for an agenda that will ensure many others die.

Die unnecessarily so that a few can become even more filthy rich.

She's lovely.

[Scuba]

28. + another

[KingCharlemagne]

43. She sounds like a proverbial 'black widow'. Really, truly creepy. - nt

[cstanleytech]

13. Worth 20 million and shes blaming Obamacare for not having tests done? She needs to stop trying

to milk his death for political gain by blaming Obamacare and look in a mirror for the reason imo.

[6000eliot]

14. Fuck them and their fucking fake hearings!

[Roland99]

20. House Votes to Repeal ACA >>>

Jul 2012
http://kgab.com/house-votes-to-repeal-aca/

U.S. Representative Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo) joined 243 Members of the House of Representatives in voting for a full repeal of The Affordable Care Act. The vote to repeal came two weeks after the Supreme Court ruled the individual mandate constitutional as a tax, but struck down the mandate that states significantly expand Medicaid programs.

Rep. Lummis says By repealing Obamacare, we can improve the deficit picture and free the nation from the mother of all baits and switches—the individual mandate tax. The now advances to the Senate where experts say it is doomed.

Hmmmmm.....

[Roland99]

21. Lummis votes for continued repeal of Obamacare

Mar 2012
http://lummis.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=286479

U.S. Representative Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo) voted today for the repeal of Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB). Rep. Lummis released the following statement concerning her vote on HR 5, passing the House with a vote of 223 to 181:

“Today was another crucial step towards repealing Obama Care in favor of common sense, affordable solutions. The Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) consists of unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats dictating cuts to Medicare but more importantly, determining Medicare patients’ access to treatment and care.

I’m pleased that my house colleagues were able to see the necessity of IPAB’s repeal, and that together we worked towards a better, fairer future for America’s seniors.”

Hmmmmm....

[Roland99]

22. Wyoming U.S. Rep. Lummis: Delay or defund Obamacare and avoid shutdown

Sep 2013
http://trib.com/news/national/wyoming-u-s-rep-lummis-delay-or-defund-obamacare-and/article_6ea8ae9e-3624-5231-af99-b65b228ef6a2.html

Hmmmmmm....

[davidpdx]

24. She probably wanted him dead

Typical Republican..

[woodsprite]

37. If it was my husband and I had to go into debt to get him the test he needed

OR surgury, etc., I would do it in a flash without thinking twice. Apparently she didn't feel the same about her husband. Sounds a bit like a Leona Helmsley to me..

[davidpdx]

39. I like that comparison

[IronLionZion]

25. Obama personally forced her to vote to repeal the ACA

and she should definitely hold 50 more votes to repeal.

[Botany]

29. complete b.s.

Congress people and their families have very good insurance, he didn't get the test
he was told to by his doctor, and he was having chest pains and didn't go to the hospital
but all this is Obama's fault?

[Arkana]

30. Wow, Congressional STDH.

[bigworld]

31. There is no "obamacare"

You're not enrolled in a plan called Obamacare, you're enrolled in a private insurance plan that is regulated by "Obamacare."

There are so many dumb rightwingers out there who think that "Obamacare" is some sort of nationalized NHS-type health care plan.

[Capt. Obvious]

32. Death panels strike again

[JohnnyRingo]

33. So repeal Obamacare?

On one hand she claims the ACA would have saved her husband's life had it been properly implemented in timely fashion, and on the other she does everything she legally can to stall or sabotage said implementation.

Since opposition has been unanimous within her party, I'm sure she's voted dozens of times to repeal the very care that she now claims would have saved her husband's life. It's all moot anyway because she knows better. Lummis has just found an imaginative way to bash the president by using her dead husband's body as a political prop. That's low, but but so is her party's standard of decency these days.

[Zorra]

40. But she'll fight tooth and nail to make sure that Universal Public Health Care

never becomes a reality in the US.

[Skittles]

41. this woman uses her own husband's death as a bullshit political talking point

never, EVER think repukes "can't sink any lower" - I ASSURE YOU THEY WILL FIND A WAY

[KingCharlemagne]

44. I posted below before I saw your reply. Spot on. My prediction for how low they can sink:

evidence that their forces sodomized Iraqi children in front of their parents to induce those parents to turn against the Iraqi Resistance from 2003 -06. Stay tuned - Dec. 12 is some sort of drop-dead date by which the full set of Abu Ghraib photos have to be released or the Justice Dept has to provide a photo-by-photo rationale why they can't be. (This is the culmination of an ACLU FIOA case seeking release of all Abu Ghraib photos).

[KingCharlemagne]

42. His corpse is barely cold and she seeks to capitalize on it for political purposes? My

God, just when you think they cannot sink any lower.

[librechik]

45. agree, it's BS.