Sam Coster never worried about his health. About to finish college, the young and athletic 20-year-old had no reason to consider insurance plans and market exchanges. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act (more commonly referred to as "Obamacare," in both negative and positive lights), health insurance concerns remained sidelined, the law allowing him to stay on his parent's insurance plan until the age of 26.
At the age of 23, after founding his own game development studio, Butterscotch Shenanigans, with his two brothers, Coster was diagnosed with Stage Four B Lymphoma, an advanced strain of cancer that begins in a single lymph node and eventually extends to other organs.
"They didn't actually know how I was still alive when I got into the hospital," Coster says. "They thought I was going to be dead within two weeks if I didn't start getting treatment."
For several years, Coster was able to curtail the nearly insurmountable costs of his medical treatments through his parent's insurance, and then later a plan acquired through the ACA's health insurance exchange portal. Six rounds of chemo appeared to eradicate the cancer by the summer of 2014.
Six months later, Coster discovered a tumor in his left chest wall while showering and was re-diagnosed. Forced to enter multiple intensive rounds of "salvage chemotherapy," BEAM chemotherapy, a stem cell transplant, and four weeks of being quarantined inside a hospital with skyrocketing fevers and no immune system, Coster finally found some semblance of resolution.
Altogether, Coster's bill cost over $1,500,000. But through the ACA, Coster paid roughly $96 a month, with just a $2,500 out of pocket maximum.
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