How The ACA (Obamacare) Saved This Baby’s Life

When looking into health insurance policies the first thing people typically look at is how high the deductible is, or how much the monthly premium is. Well, for the Morrison family that is not the most important thing. They look for the phrase “lifetime limit.” Until Obamacare went into effect it was very rare to find an insurance policy without a lifetime limit. Luckily for the Morrisons, Obamacare went into effect six months before their baby boy, Timmy, was born.

Timmy’s 3-month party Image via YouTube screenshot

Timmy was born seven weeks premature and has an incredibly rare genetic disease, called Opitz G/BBB Syndrome, which causes abnormalities through the body’s midline. Some of Timmy’s stomach contents would make its way into his lungs, and doctors and nurses had to resuscitate him often. His genetic disease and prematurity caused Timmy to have to spend his first five months in the NICU. Timmy was put under anesthesia for the first time at one week old. He has since been put under 44 more times to date, and he had his first surgery within his first month of life.

Image via YouTube screenshot

As you can guess little Timmy racked up some incredibly high hospital bills so far — $3,055,294.13 to be exact. The only thing that has saved the Morrison family from medical bankruptcy is the one paragraph in the Affordable Care Act that bans lifetime limits.

Timmy’s medical bill file Image via YouTube screenshot

Right now the Morrison’s are OK, but that’s only because the ban is still in place. That could change any day, though. To the Morrisons, the lifetime limit is the only health care debate. To legislators, it is one of the hundreds of Affordable Care Act provisions that may or may not survive in the replacement plan.

Watch this video to get a more in-depth look into the lives of the Morrisons.

 

H/T Vox 

Featured Image via YouTube screenshot