A New York brain surgery patient who’s stood strong for four separate operations is only now starting to crumble after finding out in February that Obamacare isn’t going to give her easy access to the care or providers she needs.
“I’m frustrated with the system,” said Margaret Figueroa, 49, who has a neurological disorder that has required numerous surgeries and ongoing medication, in the New York Post. She was covered for treatment, but then in February, she was forced to enroll in a new plan as required by Obamacare. That’s when troubles really hit, she said.
“I feel like I paid, but I’m not getting what I paid for,” she said, the New York Post reported. “It’s scary because this is America. I didn’t expect to go through this.”
She said she paid her premium, received her new albeit temporary identification card, but then was denied service at her local pharmacy. The pharmacist told her she wasn’t in the system and that her doctors — the same ones who had been treating her all along — weren’t included in her Obamacare plan, the New York Post said.
“They just don’t have enough doctors,” she said in the newspaper. “Two of them are full to capacity, and the others aren’t even in my radius. There are some who don’t even speak English. Now I have to find a whole new set of doctors. The doctors I had were familiar with my condition. I’ve had my neurologist for years. You want to stay with someone who’s been in your brain and knows what’s going on.”
Ms. Figueroa called her local congressman, Rep. Michael Grimm, for help.
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“This is now becoming very common,” he said of Ms. Figueroa’s complaints, the New York Post reported. “This isn’t like someone who needs an aspirin here. This is her life.”
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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