Iowa Pastor Suffering From Cancer Finds $850 a Month Obamacare Health Insurance Difficult to Pay; Asks for Prayers
An Iowa pastor diagnosed with Stage 3 esophageal cancer in January is now asking for prayers to help pay for his new $850 a month health insurance he signed up for under Obamacare.
Tony Angran, pastor of the Solid Rock Church of God in Centerville, Iowa, explains in a WHO TV report that when he was diagnosed with the disease in January he had health insurance. Moments before he started chemotherapy at a local health facility, however, he was informed that his insurance wouldn't cover the costs of his cancer treatment because of an existing heart condition.
"One of the workers came and said, 'I need to talk to you,' and so I went and talked to her and she says, 'We found out that your insurance does not include chemo,'" Angran told WHO TV.
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Since then, Angran and his wife, Diana, have had to pay for the cancer treatment out of their pockets and are now $50,000 in debt.
The couple said they signed up for health insurance under Obamacare but they are now worried about the $850 a month price tag, which they say they cannot afford and won't become effective until April.
Pastor Angran said he is now afraid for his wife.
"We ask for prayer. You know, prayer is the most powerful thing I think anyone can have," Angran said.
He also decried Obamacare, arguing that there is no compassion in the healthcare law.
"I'm sitting here with Stage 3 esophageal cancer and they're taking me to the finance person and saying, 'How are you going to pay for this?'" he said.
The Christian Post reached out to Angran's church for comment on their pastor's condition Wednesday, but there was no response.
In the meantime, he reportedly can no longer swallow. He eats through a feeding tube and is unable to take essential heart medication due to his condition.
Obamacare requires most Americans to acquire some form of health insurance by March 31, according to CNBC. Failure to abide by the requirements of the law can attract a penalty of up-to 1 percent of total taxable income.
