BY EVAN DONOVAN THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10TH 2016
WLOS — MILLS RIVER, N.C. -- Sue Douglas is a spunky 63-year-old transplant from New York who moved to the Western North Carolina mountains to help care for her 90-year-old mother.
She never imagined her mother would be the one doing the caretaking.
"My life took a turn for the worse," said Douglas about the move down south. "I had cancer. I had a son who died. I was going through a divorce. And there was just nothing left in my life that I wanted to stay there for."
In August 2007, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had good health insurance through her job as an officer manager at a cardiologist practice, where she'd worked for 22 years.
She separated from her husband while going through the treatments when she decided to make the move to North Carolina in 2008. After she arrived, the recession hurt her chances of finding a new job.
She had the chance to buy health insurance through the Affordable Care Act because pre-existing conditions were covered by the new law. She said the coverage worked great for her, and she was especially thankful for it when her cancer returned in January 2015.
"I don't know what I would have done without that health insurance," said Douglas. "My medications are so expensive. I have one pill that costs $10,000 a month. And I have one shot I get for my bones that costs about $5,000 a month. I need to have this treatment and I don't know what I would do without insurance."
Now that president-elect Donald Trump looks set to move into the Oval Office in January, she's worried about what will happen, since he promised to repeal Obamacare while on the campaign trail.
"He's said he has a replacement. I don't know what that is, but I'm hopeful," Douglas said.
Representative Mark Meadows of North Carolina's 11th district says he knows what's at stake for Obamacare customers like Douglas.
"My message to her is that she doesn't need to worry," Meadows said on Thursday. "We need to make sure that those safety healthcare nets are still there, and I believe that we'll see that. We're not going to see that go away. In fact, I'm committed to make sure that if you've got coverage, we're going to make sure that, as we repeal this, you get to continue your coverage."
That promise sounds similar to President Obama's "If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor" promise in 2009, but Meadows reiterated there will be some sort of overlap to make sure people who utilize Obamacare are not left without insurance.
Meadows said he recognizes the importance of pre-existing condition coverage and wants to drive personal accountability, as well as more price transparency, in the system.
