Cancer patient makes bucket list to travel in RV

MARYVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) – Melissa Nance and her fiance are renovating their RV and planning a trip around the country as they head toward every possible destination on her bucket list.

They hope to visit several national parks. They are excited about a special spot for viewing the Northern Lights. After their fall wedding, they’ll even be traveling abroad for their honeymoon.

“You never know if you’re gonna be that person who wakes up one day and goes to the doctor and finds out that you have cancer, ” said Nance.

One day, she was that person getting a leukemia diagnosis. Now, Nance is concerned that she and thousands of people like her could lose their health coverage. Under the Affordable Care Act, she has coverage. But potential changes to healthcare options under the proposed American Healthcare Act could leave her searching for coverage.

Nance is in a remission period but suffering from related autoimmune problems, and she said she’s watchful about her cancer journey. She will need more treatments to help with the autoimmune disorder.

“As someone with a preexisting condition, I’m very concerned about not having health insurance in the future,” said Nance. “Whether it’s because the premiums go up and cost too much, or it comes back to the state with high risk pools.”

Robert Lieberthal is a UT Asst. Professor in the Department of Public Health, and he explained that states would be able to make changes under newly proposed healthcare rules that could potentially limit coverage or make it more expensive for people with preexisting conditions like cancer.

Lieberthal said, “Someone with a preexisting condition like cancer would definitely see their premiums rise if the state took a waiver from what’s called community rating.”

He continued, “In that case, insurance companies could charge people with preexisting conditions more. Under the Affordable Care Act, that’s currently not legal.”

The professor said some 415,000 people currently purchase insurance the way Nance did on the marketplace. Another 365,000 do not have health coverage at all. He said both of these groups are most likely to be affected by the American Healthcare Act that is still under debate in Washington.