When will everyone who doesn't have insurance be forced to get it?

I am confused. I tried to look it up, but I can't find a straight answer.

I have a friend whose husband was diagnosed with Melanoma recently (non-military).

So far, they have been doing okay with paying for all the surgeries and such, but now they found out he needs chemo for a year 5 days a week at first, and 3 days a weeks starting March nest year.

She is scared to death because there is no way they will be able to afford this. He recently had quit his job right before he as diagnosed, and extended his coverage with cobra. He is about to finished his bachelor's degree in 4 days. He is looking for a job, but with that much chemo who knows how long he will be able to stand it.

She works part-time at Wal-mart, and has been begging for a full time position for months. They have a 1 year old boy too.

They own their own home, and considered selling. Unfortunately, they bought it 2 years ago when you could get that tax credit, and if they don't keep it for at least 3 years, the tax credit must be paid back.

Anyways, any ideas on how I can help them or find places for donations would be great. 

This is what I found and this is if there is no changes with this years coming election and how it stands as of now--Obama has it as a 10 year plan

already happened

-- Provides a $250 rebate to Medicare prescription drug plan beneficiaries whose initial benefits run out.



Six months after enactment

-- Bars insurers from denying people coverage when they get sick.

-- Bars insurers from denying coverage to children who have preexisting conditions.

-- Bars insurers from imposing lifetime caps on coverage.

-- Requires insurers to allow young people to stay on their parents' policies until age 26.

2011

-- Requires individual and small group market insurance plans to spend 80 percent of premium dollars on medical services. Large group plans would have to spend at least 85 percent.

2013

-- Increases the Medicare payroll tax and expands it to dividend, interest and other unearned income for singles earning more than $200,000 and joint filers making more than $250,000.

2014

-- Provides subsidies for families earning up to 400 percent of the poverty level -- or, under current guidelines, about $88,000 a year -- to purchase health insurance.

-- Requires most employers to provide coverage or face penalties.

-- Requires most people to obtain coverage or face penalties.

2018

-- Imposes a 40 percent excise tax on high-end insurance policies.

By 2019

-- Expands health insurance coverage to 32 million people. 

I worked in a cancer institute before relocating several years back. Your friends need to speak with the cancer center's finance officer; they will help them in terms of qualifying for medicaid and what not. Cancer alliances also provide many resources. I'm not certain about Obamacare; but, if you use Canada as an example of a country providing medical services to all, the wait is quite long. Also, a year of chemo sounds extremely long; is CyberKnife treatment or radiation plus chemo not an option? There are so many vast choices out there to choose from. 

Here's how an alliance can work... 

Thank you, I just wrote her about those. Hopefully, she can find one that can help. I don't know what cyperknife is or radiation plus. I am not sure if they know either. They are getting all the treatment in a little town called Jonesboro in Arkansas. 

When it comes to cancer, you should always get multiple opinions and follow the treatment plan that best suits you. CyberKnife is just one of many cancer treatment options that is at times coupled with chemo therapy to aggresively and accurately radiate cancer. Every oncologist and cancer specialist (e.g. urologists, hematologists, ENTs) have their preferred treatment methods for different cancers (like prostate, throat, and breast cancer, for example). There are cancer groups and alliances where patients past and present share their experiences; that's a sound place to start.