3/11/14 - A Dexter cancer patient featured in a conservative groupâs TV ad campaign denouncing her coverage under the program known as Obamacare will actually save more than $1,000 this year. 49-year-old Julie Boonstra starred last month in an ad (posted here) that implied Democratic Congressman Gary Petersâ vote for the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, made her medication so âunaffordableâ she could die. But The Detroit News reports that her new plan, the Blue Cross Premier Gold health care plan, will save her at least $1,200 compared with her former insurance plan that was ended under Obamacareâs coverage requirements. When the newspaper informed Boonstra that it would be cheaper, she said she still didnât believe it, adding that she still fears her costs will be unaffordable because she could be hit with large out-of-pocket bills in the early months when she wouldnât have the money to pay. But a Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan spokesman said that scenario was âhighly unlikely.â He also said Boonstraâs assertion that her new plan wouldnât cover one of her prescriptions is incorrect. The ad that featured Boonstra was sponsored by Americans for Prosperity, a group backed by billionaires Charles and David Koch that has spent more than $30 million in advertising in competitive Senate races nationwide attacking Democrats on Obamacare. Peters of Bloomfield Township is running for an open U.S. Senate seat against Republican Terri Lynn Land. A spokesman for Americans for Prosperity defended the ad by saying that before her plan was canceled; Boonstra knew what her monthly costs would be and now those costs are unpredictable. (JK)
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