Benetta and Patrick SarroSaratoga, NY
She was a waitress and he was a truck driver. They met when Pat stopped on the road for a snack and were together in a loving relationship that lasted 22 years. During the last four years of their marriage, unfortunately, Pat fought a battle with lung cancer that he would ultimately lose.
Diagnosed with Small Cell Lung Cancer in June of 2002, Pat continued to see a Physician that he respected and trusted over the course of the next four years. Pat was covered under Medicare, having suffered a job-related injury years before, and had elected Part D drug coverage. What he soon realized was that he would not be able to afford his medications once he had hit the infamous ‘donut hole’ in plan D.
Bunny had stopped working to care for Pat, and the cost of drug, $1000 per month, was too much for the couple once they were responsible for its full cost.
Pat and Bunny turned to other sources for help, but to no avail. There was not enough money to help them out. Pat ultimately succumbed to pneumonia, a side effect of his cancer, in October of 2006. At the time of his death, Bunny had only $2500 in savings – money that they had scrimped tirelessly to set aside. However, it was not enough to pay for the funeral services for Pat. Bunny ultimately turned to the contributions of family and friends to bury her husband.
At 64 years of age, Bunny now also admits that while Pat was being treated, the couple did not have the money to purchase a health insurance plan for her. Today, Bunny remains uninsured and is waiting for the day when she qualifies for Medicare. As an uninsured woman who recently lost her husband to cancer, Bunny has definite reason to worry.
Had Pat had adequate insurance, which covered the medications recommended by his physician, he might have lived longer. Were his insurance coverage adequate enough to cover his treatments, perhaps he and Bunny could have saved enough to ensure that she, too, had health insurance.