Tracy Nelson Is An Unfortunate Acceptable Loss

You could be too. Actress Tracy Nelson went broke from having Cancer three times because insurance companies wouldn't insure her because of a pre-existing condition. Watch and pass it on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0Z-7zquHYU&feature=youtu.be



• Obamabump

• That was difficult to watch. Good luck to her and the millions out there who are facing similar problems.

• That was really effective. I never really liked her as an actress but this is wonderful. Hell, if her acting roles were infused with this much passion and "real" talk, she would be great. But Father Dowling Mysteries just didn't cut it for me. lol. I am glad she has beat cancer . Seems like she is tough as nails. Three times? Wow.

• What happened to all the money she inherited from her grandparents Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, pioneers of television and multi-millionaires? Or the money she inherited from her father, Rick(y) Nelson, best-selling teen idol/recording star? And couldn't she get some financial help from her brothers, the twins who are the pop group Nelson? And couldn't she get some financial help from her aunt and uncle, Pam Dawber and highly-paid popular star of TV's NCIS, Mark Harmon? (Mark is the brother of Tracey's mom, Kris, and at one point Mark and Pam tried to take the Nelson twins away from Kris after Ricky's tragic death)

  Holly%20Wood%20Hills

• r4. She had cancer THREE TIMES. Medical care is ASTRONOMICAL in cost. It is quite possible that she blew through ALL that money you mention, even with it being a huge sum. Think about it. One ambulance ride is $3,000! It adds up very quickly.

• Chemo treatments without health insurance costs THOUSANDS. Treatments can go on for years.

• OMG major flashback. I used to watch that Father Dowling show with my grandmother. I normally can't hold my attention through these types of vids, but she did a good job. Unfortunate story, great message.

• She was hilarious on 'Seinfeld'.

• I would have to die. I wouldn't be able to afford my own treatment and I'm not going to get well just to live on the fucking streets.

• I used to watch Father Dowling with my grandfather. It was a fun show to watch except for Tracy Nelson's scenes which always seemed to drag. The housekeeper was great.

• I got turned down for a whole lot less than that. And you know the Repugs are going to get hung up on the fact that she's a "liberal Hollywood elitist," so just trying to get their sympathy. I know a whole lot of Repugs whose children can't fly the nest and are taking advantage of the 26-year-old insurance coverage thing, though.

• I loved her as the Valley girl on 'Square Pegs'. She and Jami Gertz were the best.

• She also did a fun, brief stint on a cheesy Australian show called Snowy River: The MacGregor Saga (along with Hugh Jackman and Guy Pierce, IIRC). What a moving video. I usually tune out of these things after a few minutes, but she was so sincere and captivating.

• "She had cancer THREE TIMES. Medical care is ASTRONOMICAL in cost. It is quite possible that she blew through ALL that money you mention, even with it being a huge sum. Think about it. One ambulance ride is $3,000! It adds up very quickly." Exactly! ReThugs are so batshit crazy and just plain evil, these bastards simply don't see that being denied health insurance as a VERY BIG problem. My dad had minor heart surgery about two years ago, 'minor' in the sense that it wasn't open heart surgery, but the complete bill, minus his out of pocket TV rental, was over $80,000! Thankfully he has his own private coverage which he carried on when he retired, as well as Medicare. Does that creepy looking douchebag Paul Ryan HONESTLY think a voucher plan will work in place of the current Medicare system? Is he serious? How much is this fucking asshole putting in each old person's voucher plan? I'm sure it will not be $25,000 let alone $500,000! How the hell does even $10,000 cover the cost of health insurance, surgery and a hospital stay? What happens if you need to go back into the hospital during that year? This is what baffles me to no end, the willful ignorance of these ReThug voters. How can these ignorant ReThug voters be willing to vote for these two liars who are not even giving them ANY honest answers about exactly HOW their polices are going to work? All the ReThugs have fed their followers are non-stop empty platitudes. The list of things Romney wants to repeal the FIRST day is office is laughable. All this slimy guys wants to do is take away established plans which work! Medicare actually works! WHY dismantle a plan which works?

• This is why it is so great living in Canada. We don't have these type pf problems. Sure the system isn't perfect, but there is no Canadian citizen who would support a for-profit health care system. On another note, she should have remarried Billy Moses and got on his SAG policy. Mistake divorcing him.

• She has had a pretty steady career, working on an acting gig at least once a year. What about the SAG medical benefits?

• I never really had to deal with this, so I didn't pay much attention, but weren't employer-based health insurance plans allowed to reject for pre-existing conditions? But also, the insurance policy I got through a previous employer capped medical payments at $1 million per policy. Apparently several employees had gotten cancer and other serious illnesses, and because of the chemo plus whatever other treatment they received (bone marrow transplant, for one), the insurance company ended up paying millions on each policy. So maybe there was a cap on the payments. So, yeah, if insurance was paying over $1 million to treat one person, I can believe she blew through all her money dealing with three rounds of cancer treatments, especially since hospitals often charge more for out-of-pocket payments than they charge the insurance company.

• r16 has a point....

• [quote]Medicare actually works! WHY dismantle a plan which works? Because the current system in financially unsustainable. The Medicare Trust is expected to run out in about 10 years unless something is done. And with baby boomers turning 65 and more people living longer, that 10 years could shrink. I'm not saying the republicans have the right approach. But there's likely something that needs to change,

• [quote]What happened to all the money she inherited from her grandparents Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, pioneers of television and multi-millionaires? The were pioneers, and way before the syndication gravey train came into town. They didn't make a million dollars an episode like the "Friends" or "Seinfeld " actors did. [quote]What about the SAG medical benefits? Did you watch? She said she stopped working to raise her kids and her insurance lapsed and that was all it took. You can be in a Union and still not be eligible for their Insurance. She couldn't get ANY insurance because of a pre-existing condition afer that.

• I watched this and I agree that her situation is very sad. I am in favor of Obamacare. However, that said, she admitted that she let her insurance "lapse" when she wasn't working and was raising her children. She never should have let it lapse! Especially since she had cancer at age 20. Her business folks, agents, husband, and other relatives in show business should have made sure she knew this. No one should go without health insurance. It is not worth the risk. She had $ and could afford it. She made a terrible error by letting her policy (prob. a SAG policy) lapse or by not getting on her husband's policy. That said, I am glad ObamaCare is nixing the whole pre=existing conditions thing.

• actually she wouldn't be that big of a loss....let her go

• [quote] ReThugs are so batshit crazy and just plain evil, these bastards simply don't see that being denied health insurance as a VERY BIG problem. Until it happens to them, then they go even more batshit -- and blame it on Obama. Look what happened when Obama threatened to delay SS checks a while back. "Obama's a Communist!! He's trying to take my grandma's Social Security!!!" Not acknowledging that it's their own party that wants these social programs abolished.

• If Canada, everyone is a part of the healthcare system and gets coverage automatically - there is no need to worry about some insurance plan or a lapse of it.

• I think the lack of universal healthcare in the US is the cruellest thing about living in the US.

• [quote]No one should go without health insurance. It is not worth the risk. She had $ and could afford it. She made a terrible error by letting her policy (prob. a SAG policy) lapse or by not getting on her husband's policy. That said, I am glad ObamaCare is nixing the whole pre=existing conditions thing. And she is not asking for sympathy. She's informing people that don't have the $ that ObamaCare is the way to go. She told her story to help others. She doesn't need a lecture from you.

• Fine but does she not take any responsibility for her part in letting her SAG insurance "lapse"? I mean, isn't she living in a million dollar home now? As far as I know she still is. Maybe she personally went broke but she had the mansion and her HUSBAND's money. I'm not trying to belittle her situation but it is not even close to people who don't have those kinds of resources. She's living large now, and she never got foreclosed on or sell her house, which is the real reality.

  Really%20hate%20celebs

• [quote]I'm not trying to belittle her situation Yes, you are. And what is your point, anyway? That she didn't suffer enough, and she should therefore not be allowed to speak out about inequities in the system that she has experienced firsthand? Part of the point is that no one is immune: it can happen even to a celebrity, even to the wealthy. It's not just freeloaders and communists who stand to benefit from Obamacare. It will benefit everyone, even people who are already privileged.

• Borrow money or get money from her relatives? I think you're talking half a million or perhaps more in her case.

  http://www.boardcertifiedplasticsurgeon.com

  Marion

• "I'm not saying the republicans have the right approach. But there's likely something that needs to change, " What actually has to change is to stop allowing US health care to continue as such a large for-profit industry. Is there really any honest justification for health company CEOs, who make anywhere from 10 to 30 million and up a year, to deny their high premium paying customers/patients tests or control how many times a year patients can see their doctors? I remember when my sister, who was paying 100% out of pocket at the time for her health insurance (now she is married and on her husband's coverage because her insurance through her job wasn't very good), was nearly denied a diagnostic test because her former gyno told her, "Do you realize what an expensive test that is?" WTF?!! My sister couldn't believe what she was hearing, she went ballistic, she explained that she knew her symptoms were not normal and that her monthly premium more than covered the cost of the test! I think the cost for this test was around $400 and her premium was about $600 a month at the time! Sure enough, my sister was diaignosed with uterine cancer, thankfully, because of her insistence on that one test, she is alive today. Fuck this horrible for profit health care system we have in the US. People say we have the best in the world, but look at the hoops we have to jump through for service! If Romney becomes president, even more people will be losing or unable to get health care due to pre-existing conditions etc, because this piece of shit wants to REPEAL The Affordable Healthcare Act! It will be like going back 100 years if this fool gets elected. He's anti-everything!

• How dare Tracey expect a for profit business to make a profit.

• How DARE the people of the USA want Universal Health Care like they have in every other First World nation!

• If Obamacare is enacted won't the upper classes just turn to concierge service doctors? I mean I know I am not going to sit in the waiting room next to some women named Fernanda with a chicken on her lap.

  www.goop.com

• She did a great job. Too bad so few have seen it and election day is so close.

• I agree with R21 In terms of her kids, they are probably covered under Billy Moses SAG plan. But working once a year to keep her SAG medical benefits, wouldn't be that much of a sacrifice.

• Maybe she couldn't get a job... It is true. So many prople hate Obamacare don't know what it is....

  LII

• r24, you are a douchebag. Maybe she could not HELP her SAG benefits lapsing. If she hadn't been working because she was raising her kids, perhaps she could not get enough acting roles to KEEP the insurance in place even if she decided to, you know, "grab a role or two here and there just to keep the insurance." I don't know the rules but maybe you need more than one role per year or something like that? Maybe she should just have never stopped working at all and put her health insurance as a priority over and above her kids? You and a few others are saying that her decision to be a stay at home mom was her FAULT and that the ensuing financial health crisis ultimately fell on her head by her own doing. So, you ARE blaming her. Republican much? She is not asking for sympathy in that video, just a chance to PAY for her benefits, to HAVE them. That is all. And her pre-existing condition has kept her from being able to get insurance because the system is so fucked up.

• I don't think an enlightened society should have a "for profit" healthcare system. It should be a given that we take care of sick people.

  willing%20to%20pay%20more%20for%20it

• America is too fundamentally selfish to be so enlightened. Everything must be for profit or it is considered a pointless exercise, and the "haves" don't want to pay higher taxes because god forbid the "have-nots" might benefit from it.

• Yes, I'm sure the roles for Tracy Nelson are just lining up. Do you not understand what it's like to be a working actress?

• To r21 and r24: forget that she's a celebrity. I think you're over estimating the value of her acting career and family legacy, given the personal history of her father and the work she's done, but that's not the point. Even if she could have afforded to keep her insurance and chose not to (something I doubt a cancer survivor would ever willingly do, but we don't know the facts here) I still don't think a person should pay for that mistake with her life or bankrupting her family. Imagine this scenario as a regular person. You have insurance. You get laid off. You opt for COBRA (an 18 month extension of your employer based benefits where you are entitled to keep the same policy but must pay the full premium yourself). Your individual policy that you used to pay a percentage premium of, for instance, $100 a month, now costs you $500 a month or more. You don't find a job and the COBRA ends after 18 months. Or you get part-time a job with no benefits. You're forced to buy your own private policy, where even the cheapest policy is hundreds of dollars a month - hard to afford on unemployment or a part-time salary. You begin depleting your savings, and after a while can't afford the policy. You are forced to make a financial choice: rent, food, utilities, student loan, health insurance premium. What to give up? Or maybe you couldn't afford the COBRA at all. Or maybe you have a family policy; estimate double or triple the costs. Or perhaps you're younger, and you take the calculated risk of letting your insurance lapse. Now it's time to get a new policy. Maybe it's through a new employer, or you're now able to buy your own private policy. Under the current system (which is the set-up Romney-Ryan will keep in place if elected) in the majority of cases, an insurance can't subject you to a pre-existing condition clause, if you can prove you have "uninterrupted" prior coverage. In most cases this means you cannot have gone for more than 2 months without insurance coverage in the previous year. If you fail to meet this criteria, and your new employer's benefits aren't "cadillac" enough to waive all pre-existing condition clauses, you're out of luck. Under Romney-Ryan, tens of millions will still be denied coverage. The basic question is: do we want a system where you end up with a catastrophic illness and are unable to get coverage because you lost your job, or chose rent over insurance, or, god forbid, took a risk at age 24 that you were healthy and wouldn't need coverage for a while, and then, whoops, you get Hodgkin's or leukemia? There are lots of circumstances where a person ends up without insurance through no fault of their own. And, really, do we think that even the person who loses health insurance through a stupid risk-taking choice deserves to be denied medical treatment because of it? I know plenty of people (many in my own family) who say, "take responsibility, you chose to let it lapse." Personally, I find that inhumane, and much more of a death panel than anything Sarah Palin and the GOP dreamed up as part of ObamaCare. Her celebrity status means nothing. Think of her as an under-employed contractor. The ACA, if left intact, will eventually make pre-existing condition clauses disappear (although high premiums are going to be with us forever, I suspect). The "tax" people will pay if they elect not to buy coverage will mean that even if they don't get coverage and then suddenly find themselves with leukemia at age 25, they will still be able to buy coverage. I get wanting people to make smart choices rather than bad ones that end up negatively impacting themselves, their family and indirectly, society as a whole. But I personally think we've got a broken system where you pay for an error in judgement with your life or the financial solvency of your family, when a better financial model for healthcare delivery would remove the incentive people have to opt out of coverage.

• Even if she did a guest spot once a year, she would still have her SAG benefits.

• In Canada, you do pay for health care 'insurance' through your taxes - no choice. Obamacare is the same thing, except you pay it to a private insurance agency. Really, the U.S. needs to cut out private insurance agencies - their existence is based on insuring people who don't need it at 'this' time, but when you do, then don't count on them continuing to insure you. I don't know why anyone in the U.S. would be so resistant to universal health care. Even if you feel YOU shouldn't have to pay for it because YOU don't need it, you can bet someone you love, such as a family member or good friend, will.

• R43 Canadians are not saying we get free health care. Of course we pay for it through taxes. What we are saying is that everyone is treated the same, regardless of income. There is a level playing field.

• 1) Why is it that other countries around the world have a free (or almost free) government health care system that provides world class services for it's citizens? In most cases you can go your whole life without health insurance because you don't really need it. 2) Why would anyone vote against a universal healthcare system?

• [quote]Why is it that other countries around the world have a free (or almost free) government health care system that provides world class services for it's citizens? Because other countries around the world make it illegal to make a profit on basic health care insurance. The U.S., on the other hand, worships the almighty dollar at the expense of the lives of its citizens.

• [quote]Even if she did a guest spot once a year, she would still have her SAG benefits. She had Cancer. Perhaps she didn't feel well enogh to work, or think she looked good enough to work. Whatever, it's not the point. She is only telling her story so people that don't "get" ObamaCare know what millions with PRE-EXISTING conditions are dismissed by the Insurance Comapnies. With your judgemental attitude, it would be a perfect profession for you.

• [quote] She had Cancer. Perhaps she didn't feel well enogh to work, or think she looked good enough to work. You do what you gotta do. When Madlyn Rhue had MS she looked AWFUL and needed her SAG benefits. She sent the word out to her actor friends, and Angela Lansbury came to the rescue. She wrote in a recurring part of the town Librarian just for Madlyn. Daniel Green (who was on Falcon Crest) was in the same boat. His wife was poz and he needed to get an acting job fast, to keep his benefits. One of his actor friends on a sitcom came to the rescue with an under five part. I'm not blaming Tracy. Shit happens. But she shouldn't have let her SAG medical benefits lapse. And she should have done everything in her power to keep her benefits. She could even do voice-over work and still keep her benefits.

• [quote] Fine but does she not take any responsibility for her part in letting her SAG insurance "lapse"? SAG insurance lapses if you don't work enough hours to mainta8in the benefit. You can't just pay for it it you don't qualify. She'd have had to have gone the private insurance route, and she'd have topped out on lifetime benefits very quickly. Luckily with Obamacare, that provision ALSO goes away and insurance companies are no longer allowed to cap your benefits.

• Which is why she should have tried to get any type of 'guest spot' just to maintain her benefits.

• [bold]It's Not All Rosey For Canadians Either![/bold] Nine out of 10 Canadian families battling cancer are also battling financial debt, according to a study released Thursday. The Canadian Cancer Society, in partnership with the Canadian Cancer Action Network, released a three-year study in Winnipeg that examined the financial hardship that can be brought on by a cancer diagnosis. For some, a diagnosis begins a financial tailspin that pushes ordinary people over the edge resulting in debt, distress, bankruptcy and even a lifetime on social assistance. Winnipegger Teresa Solta knows the story first hand. Within a year of her youngest daughter's spinal cord cancer diagnosis, Solta went from being a successful business owner to full-time caregiver. She suddenly had very little income and four children to look after. One year later, the accountant herself was diagnosed with leukemia and was forced to stop work entirely. In the months that followed, she declared bankruptcy, lost her home and moved with her four children into her parents' two-bedroom apartment.. "My pride took such a beating because I was very pleased with the fact that I'd been so self-sufficient," she said. "Just imagine what it feels like to have a 13-year-old break down in tears and tell you that, 'we're homeless.' That really hurts. That broke my heart." The Cancer Society is calling for income stability for patients and caregivers and more funding for affordable cancer drugs and medical equipment.

  http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/story/2012/11/01/mb-cancer-report-hardships-winnipeg.html

• R51 she could have filed for disability.

• Now, if you look at her IMDB...she does work on some project at least once a year.

• Sad

• "Which is why she should have tried to get any type of 'guest spot' just to maintain her benefits" Listen, you Kelsey Grammar/Rick Santorum hellspawn fuckface.. What's wrong with our healthcare system? Is it that the for-profit industry with its millionaire executives denying people coverage to save a buck ? Or is the problem that Tracy Nelson and others in similar circumstances for one reason or another finds their insurance has lapsed and that they should have overcome WHATEVER personal problems or obstacles they may have experienced at the time which led to that lapse of insurance therefore they need to be more "responsible"? You are fucking scum who deserve to suffer as much as the people you would force to endure their ills to save a few bucks for millionaires.

• True, R51, but maybe being a business owner has something to do with her specific case. It's tough, but I doubt many Canadians who get cancer face homelessness as a result. One of my best friends has cancer and gets disability. She even gets some of her alternative treatments covered through public health benefits.

• Honey, if finding work for an over forty year old actress were that easy, Meryl wouldn't be the only one sucking up all the big roles. Those of you saying "Just get a couple of guests spots" are clueless to how it works. If she took time off to nurse herself through her illness and also look after her kids, it's not going to be easy to find good paying work.

• Besides, R57, who the hell wants to work when they have cancer? And if you're sick, who the fuck is going to hire you for an acting gig, particularly if you're not insurable? Some of you are so fucking clueless it hurts sometimes.

• And third world countries too [r32]!

  Rwanda

• Question for someone familiar with non-US health systems. If the government provides benefits instead of the insurance companies, how do the hospitals, doctors and pharmacuetical companies work? In the US, the hospitals, doctors and pharma companies are for-profit just like the insurance companies - are they for-profit in non-US locations to, or extensions of the government? It's common practice to bitch about insurance companies in the states, but I've never understood why the complaints stop there. They are only one piece of the healthcare system, and if the government steps in as the replacement for only that piece, we're still all fucked.

• R60 in Canada each province (the US equivalent of States) receives transfer payments from the Federal Government. This is in the millions of dollars. Each Premier (think Governor) of each province then doles money out to the various hospitals. While individual doctors bill the province for their services to patients. Each citizen of Canada has a Health Card. We present our card when we see the doctor, get a test, or see a specialist. That gets billed to the province, and they in turn send a payment back. The transfer payments each province receives should be enough for the year. Our taxes pay for Health Care.

• R25 is disgusting. I can't believe no one has called him out yet. I hope you get cancer. See how it feels.

• [quote][R25] is disgusting. I can't believe no one has called him out yet. R27 shows as R25. Weird.

• She should just borrow money from her parents, like when she needed to borrow some money to go to college or start a business or join a nepotist career.

• The girl who played Rhoda in 'The Bad Seed' was given a pity guest star role on the CW show 'Supernatural' so that she wouldn't lose her SAG benefits.

  Hey, it happens.

• I'm 56 - haven't had health insurance in 4 years. Just can't afford it.

• She does't talk to her mom

• R65, debunked. Patty McCormack had four SAG parts in 2012 before "Supernatural."

• Wasn't there any money left from Ozzie & Harriet. Why are all the Nelson's crying poverty?

• Obamacare will bankrupt this country and will actually be damaging

• End of Days

  Mrs.%20Carmoody

• I always thought she was a darn good actress. I especially liked Father Dowling starring Tracy and Tom Bosley. My wife and I have been wondering why we haven't seen her on any movies recently, so I went to google. We didn't know her cancer had returned. Tracy, if your reading this, I was always a huge fan of your Dad's. I have so many of his CDs and albums, and still today, look in music stores for any that I may not have. Also, it's either his music or Frankie Avalon's that I play in my car or while using my tread mill. For me, they will always rank 1, 2. And Tracy, I certainly wish you the best future possible.

  Charlie

• She once had cancer and then did not bother to be sure she had health insurance? Not buying it.

• In Australia, doctors who work in public hospitals are government employees.

• For those talking about SAG insurance lapsing, you have to earn at least 45k each year only from acting gigs to even be elligible for it. That number may have risen ith the horrid merger.

• R42, not at all.

• Well, hopefully that will change with Obamacare, R75.