Even if President Obama were to accomplish what seems like the impossible — reforming the nation’s health care systems — it will be too late for some people in Sedona who are uninsured, underinsured or thought their high premium insurance would cover catastrophic illness.

Joseph DiMarco is one of those people.
In the beginning of 2004, he and his wife Andrea were like many others in this city: They owned a nice home in West Sedona, worked h

ard at full-time jobs and had first-rate health coverage.
Described by her husband as a whizbang with numbers, Andrea was an assistant bank manager who budgeted their dual incomes and expenses well enough so they could afford to travel overseas on vacations without touching a lifetime of hard-earned savings.
A first generation Italian-American, Joseph had followed a lifelong work ethic instilled by his parents, getting his first job at the age of 7.
He met Andrea while working at his father’s snack stand in a bowling alley in Long Island, N.Y., and married her two days after he turned 21 in 1970.
When the couple moved with their two sons to Sedona in September of 1993, Joseph sold his locksmith business and opened a new business here: Joseph the Handyman.
The children were promptly enrolled in West Sedona Elementary and with her strong math skills Andrea easily found a position at one of the local banks.
Life was good.
In July of 2004, Andrea was diagnosed with colon cancer.
After surgery, her doctor pronounced there was only a 1 percent chance that any cancer remained.
The other good news was that her health coverage at the bank paid all of the bills with only small co-pays for prescriptions.
Seemingly recovered from her illness and from the surgery, Andrea changed jobs.
She was able to retain her former insurance coverage for 18 months through the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act before having to switch to a new insurance company.
However, before the end of that period, her cancer returned with a vengeance.
New tumors were found in her colon, kidneys and liver, requiring surgery and chemotherapy so harsh she was unable to work.
When the extended coverage ended, the only policy they could find cost the couple $14,000 annually out of pocket with $10,000 in deductibles.
Months of $12,000 per shot chemotherapy and damaging radiation treatments exacted their own toll on Andrea’s health, weakening her to the point she was unable to travel to medical appointments alone.
After several encounters with medical personnel who clearly failed to understand his wife’s condition or needs, Joseph took time off from his business to accompany Andrea to her appointments.
That left the couple without either of their incomes.
It wasn’t long before all of the DiMarcos’ days were consumed with medical appointments, arguing with insurance companies and pleading for help from state agencies.
By 2007, their lifelong savings had dwindled to nothing, exhausted by treatments and drugs deemed ineligible for coverage by their insurance company.
With no money left, Joseph turned to credit cards to pay for hotel rooms near hospitals, for co-pays and for pain medication.
When his wife’s insurance coverage ceased altogether, he sought coverage for her from Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, and appealed to then Gov. Janet Napolitano so his wife could receive Social Security disability and state aid.
Unable to make payments on their mortgage, utilities, telephone, credit card and other monthly bills, the couple was besieged with telephone calls from collection agencies.
Then Andrea developed an E. coli infection, requiring a 13-day stay in the hospital.
Her subsequent pain was so severe Joseph consulted an expert.
Told his wife would have to wait three weeks for an intrathecal pain pump, he drove her to the Virginia G. Piper cancer clinic in Scottsdale where they would wait only two days.
Shortly afterward the hospital called demanding $800 for the pump, just another amenity not covered by insurance.
In spite of hundreds of thousands of dollars of tests and treatment, painful procedures and mind-numbing drugs, by 2008 Andrea’s doctors held little hope for her recovery and she was referred to RTA Hospice and Palliative Care in Sedona.
She passed away two months later.
Joseph is left with the memories of a woman he describes as his soulmate, a twin flame with whom he wanted to grow old.
He is also left with a mountain of bills, having to choose which one to pay each month.
Thanks to his family, he has a roof over his head and Andrea received a proper funeral, paid for by his sister.
During the worst of their crisis, only the generosity of his family along with local businesses and friends in Sedona kept food on the table.
Unable to sleep at night, Joseph lies awake thinking about the cost and efficacy of standardized Western medicine, not just as it affected his wife but as it now affects him.
Eight months after Andrea’s death, he was diagnosed with Bell’s palsy shortly after he scattered his wife’s ashes in a park on Long Island per her last wish.
Estimates for the costs of neurological tests and treatment were $15,000, not a penny of which he could afford, nor was the treatment guaranteed to help.
Instead of taking that route, he sought help from the alternative medicine community, finding relief in the discounted acupuncture treatments offered by his employer.
It isn’t easy for Joseph to talk about what’s happened to his life; his gentle brown eyes drip tears during our interviews.
Yet, he’s willing to speak up in an effort to help others.
“It’s hard to believe this could happen in America, but I found out you’re on your own and no one from the government or your insurance agencies or your creditors will help even as we pay more and more for taxes and coverage,” DiMarco said. “We can do better than this. A new administration is coming in, write and call them to demand a change. Good health care must be available for all and no one should end up destitute because of an illness.”

Susan Johnson can be reached at 282-7795, ext. 129, or e-mail sjohnson@larsonnewspapers.com