Luis Lang

A new update to the ongoing saga of Luis Lang of Fort Mill, South Carolina.

As regular readers will recall, Mr. Lang's story went viral for several weeks back in May and June. Here's a refresher:

• May 12, 2015: See man hate Obamacare. See man refuse to get Obamacare. See man whine that he can't get Obamacare when he needs it.
• May 12, 2015: Generous Progressives Bail Out Hypocrite Conservative
• May 13, 2015: An Open Letter To Mr. Luis Lang of Fort Mill, South Carolina
• May 16, 2015: In which Luis Lang appears to call for Single Payer, and other interview insights
• May 19, 2015: Well I'll Be Damned: Luis Lang quits GOP, openly calls for Single Payer
• May 19, 2015: I wish sincere good luck to Mr. Lang; he's going to need it.
• May 28, 2015: The Luis Lang Saga, Part VI: The Interview
• June 6, 2015: A Quick Update on Luis Lang

I honestly thought that was the end of his story, but back in late August out of curiosity, I did check in on his GoFundMe page and found a link to a rather interesting, if belated correction over at the Charlotte Observer (the newspaper which posted his story in the first place):

Remember Mr. Lang?

Well, it turns out that at least one of the claims from the original article about him which went viral back in May has been corrected by the paper which ran the story...3 months later:

CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS

Luis Lang, the subject of a May 13 story centering on his struggle to find someone to pay for eye surgery, did not specifically blame President Obama for his inability to get insurance through the Affordable Care Act. He says he blames Washington and state politicians for gaps in the system.

It is our policy to acknowledge errors promptly. If you see a mistake, call us at 704-358-5040 or email corrections@charlotteobserver.com.

Hmm. Not sure that I'd call 3 months "promptly" but fair enough.

As for Mr. Lang himself, here's his latest updates on his medical situation from over the past month:

The FacePalm is strong with this story by Michael Tesler in the Washington Post (not that I'm criticizing the story, mind you; he did a great job on it):

• More Democrats are getting health insurance, thanks to Obamacare. Why are Republicans staying away?

Democrats were naturally declared the big winners of last month’s King v. Burwell Supreme Court decision. That ruling, after all, saved the party’s most significant legislative accomplishment in decades: The Affordable Care Act (ACA).

But Obamacare has not simply been an ideological victory for the Democratic Party. The percentage of Democrats with health insurance has increased dramatically since the ACA’s marketplace went online in October 2013, according to weekly surveys conducted by YouGov for the Economist. In fact, the display below suggests that Democrats’ uninsured rates have essentially been cut in half under Obamacare.

Hey, everyone, remember this from March?

If I'm reading this correctly, it looks like a whole lot of poor people in non-expansion states were effectively forced into padding their official income in order to qualify for federal tax credits due to their GOP overlords being jackasses. I'm not sure whether that's a problem legally (as opposed to deliberately cutting your official income), but it seems to me that this will only work for so long before it catches up with them recordkeeping-wise?

...here's a simplified example of how it works:

For the backstory on the Luis Lang Saga, see here, here, here, here, here and here.

All caught up? OK, then...

A couple quick developments in the ongoing saga of Luis Lang, the guy from South Carolina with serious medical and insurance issues whose story went viral a few weeks back.

Over the past 3 weeks, I've written not one, not two, but 5 different lengthy screeds about Luis Lang of Fort Mill, South Carolina.

My first three posts pretty much tore him and his wife to pieces.

The fourth post, written in response to an interview he did with my colleague Harold Pollack over at healthinsurance.org, was a bit more forgiving, but still brought out my nasty snark.

Then, a few days later, Lang dropped the bombshell: He and his wife were renouncing the Republican Party and openly calling for Single Payer healthcare.

(title changed to be more accurate)

I was planning on saving this entry until we were closer to the King v. Burwell decision (expected to be announced near the end of June), but Greg Sargent of the Washington Post has kind of forced my hand with his own excellent follow-up to the Luis Lang saga:

But there’s another potential twist to the tale: Just as he is now seeking to get on Obamacare, he could very well find himself unable to sign up for coverage, if the Supreme Court rules for the challengers in King v. Burwell next month.

...an HHS official tells me that if he can get his income up a bit — it reportedly fluctuates — he could probably qualify for a category that would allow him to apply for Obamacare again before next year’s open enrollment period.

But if the Court strikes subsidies in three dozen states on the federal exchange — one of which includes South Carolina — it could put Obamacare even further out of reach for Lang.

An hour or so ago, Luis Lang, who earlier today announced his support of Single Payer healthcare and his decision to leave the Republican Party (specifically over their obstruction of the Affordable Care Act) posted the following update on his GoFundMe account:

Wow. All I can say is...good for him, seriously:

Lifelong Republican Turns On His Party, Embraces Obamacare

Luis Lang, who is currently crowdfunding for medical expenses that he can’t afford because he didn’t sign up for insurance under Obamacare, has become a viral sensation. However, the 49-year-old South Carolina resident says he doesn’t want to be the poster child for the Republican Party’s opposition to health care reform anymore.

Many people both here and over at Daily Kos have criticized me, either for donating a few bucks ot Mr. Lang in the first place or alternately, for coming down so hard on the guy in my blog posts. Some thought it was a waste of time (and money) to help the guy out, while others thought it was an equal waste of time/breath to chastize him, figuring that it'd fall on deaf ears. Still others thought that it's inappropriate to donate money with one hand while berating him with the other. Well, guess what?

UPDATE 5/19/15: SEE IMPORTANT UPDATE TO THE LUIS LANG SAGA!!

I know I said I was done writing about Luis Lang, the guy in South Carolina who's going blind and is uninsured due to a combination of his own decisions and the SC administration. However, my colleague Harold Pollack over at healthinsurance.org just posted a lengthy interview with the guy to get his take on things. Since I'm one of those who tore him to shreds, it behooves me to let him say his piece.

Read Pollack's piece for the full interview, but here's my main thoughts in response: