LETTER: I owe my life to the ACA

To the editor:

My name is Scott Selman. I am writing you today to express my gratitude for the Affordable Care Act. In essence, if not for the ACA I would be in my grave today, my wife would be a widow, and my young daughter would be without a father. In 2015 I was diagnosed with a rare incurable lung disease known as Diffuse Idiopathic Pulmonary Neuroendocrine Cell Hyperplasia. After numerous stays in ICU on life support my doctors all came to the same conclusion. The only chance I had to survive was to receive a double lung transplant. In January of 2016 they fast tracked me to the University of Washington in Seattle to begin testing to see if I would be a qualifiable candidate for transplant. This is a very thorough process and includes not only your physical evaluation, but also your emotional state, your post procedure caregivers, and perhaps most importantly of all, access to insurance that will cover the staggering costs. Here was where I ran into trouble. I was found to be extremely suitable for candidacy in every area except the monetary aspect. The financial advisor at the hospital had to explain to me that my insurance would cover the actual operation there was a problem in the actual procurement of the donor's lungs. Expenses for obtaining and delivery of the lungs could actually be up to $100,000.00 and my particular policy had a cap of $5000.00. It was like a "catch 22"! While the procedure itself was covered getting my new lungs to the hospital wasn't. My hopes for survival were literally dashed upon the rocks of reality. My only chance at this point was to refinance my house and max out all my credit cards I hopes I could cover the expenses myself. However, I then thought what if the procedure failed.... Do I really want to leave my family so far in debt that they may not only lose me but possibly our home as well. I began to seriously contemplate the advantages of me dying...

Of everyone being better off without me. I accepted my impending fate and concluded my story was one brevity not longevity. This is a heartbreakingly soul crushing place to be. Yet I vowed to appreciate, attempt to illuminate, and lend weight to every waning moment I had left on this planet. Game over...

But then a miracle came into my life, one of many I would be blessed with over the next year. It appeared in the form of the Affordable Care Act. This law actually called for the removal of cap limits from policies that restricted access to numerous life saving procedures, in particular to me.... Organ Procurement!

The Board of the Directors responsible for my insurance coverage actually had a meeting and changed the policy. Not out of generosity and concern for my well being, mind you... but because of the law, The Affordable Care Act law!

Solely because of this I am alive today, as are countless others. I am an active participant in my own life now. I am back at work, I am able to be a father, husband,and friend, I am able to dream, plan, laugh, walk, and breathe again. I am so grateful for this priceless gift I have been given, this second chance, this miracle, this redemption.

All because of my donor, my doctors, my family....

And this law. Please keep the ACA intact and allow others the opportunity to to survive and thrive as I. Thank you,

Not only for your time...

But mine as well!

— Charles Scott Selman

Anchorage