Lee-Ellen Macon had beaten breast cancer once.
So when she went to the doctor this spring with what she thought was a slight thyroid issue, and instead received a stage IV cancer recurrence diagnosis, she was terrified.
“That’s the worst cancer you can have,” said Macon, 57. “Hardly anybody can recover from that.”
Almost as scary was Macon’s subsequent discovery: Her out-of-network deductible was $4,000.
That meant she had to pay at least that much out of pocket for care before her coverage kicked in. Many people don’t meet their deductibles every year.