This week, congresswoman-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., tweeted out a letter from Spectrum Health to one Hedda Elizabeth Martin. The letter described the clinic’s rejection of a heart transplant for Martin based on lack of a “more secure financial plan for immunosuppressive medication coverage.” The clinic added, “The Committee is recommending a fundraising effort of $10,000.” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted, “Insurance groups are recommending GoFundMe as official policy — where customers can die if they can’t raise the goal in time — but sure, single payer healthcare is unreasonable.”
First off, Ocasio-Cortez is simply incorrect. The letter itself isn’t directly from the insurance company but from the clinic. It declined to perform the heart surgery because the patient didn’t have the ability to pay for the medications necessary to prevent organ rejection by the immune system. Furthermore, deductibles on insurance that would cover such drugs under Obamacare would certainly surpass the $10,000 requested by the clinic.
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