Aspects of the Affordable Care Act (healthcare Reform)

UHC.com/SmallBusiness

(yes - this post may win the prize for the most unusual title, if nothing else....)

One of the important aspects of the Affordable Care Act (healthcare reform) is the fact that annual caps and lifetime limits will no longer be allowed. That is, when you purchase insurance, the insurer cannot limit its expense in your contract.

Before now, this has been a problem that almost always went unnoticed by someone who purchased expensive insurance - only to learn that when they needed it most, it ran out. The cap in the amount the insurer was willing to spend might mean that patient would end up owing hundreds of thousands of dollars even though they had insurance to begin with.

I explain that to set the stage for the rest of today's story.

Earlier this year, a young American student, Arijit Guha, was diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer. Within weeks, he "went from thinking I had a bad stomach bug to learning I had metastatic colorectal cancer." Yes - it had metastasized throughout his body, requiring surgeries, chemo - the works.

Arijit had health insurance - a student policy - managed by Aetna. Unfortunately, it had a lifetime cap of $300,000. Unfortunately, his surgery and treatment cost hundreds of thousands more.

So Arijit did three things. Understanding his responsibility, he started by fundraising - but not just asking for money. Instead