Man Robs Bank to Get Health Care

In Gastonia, North Carolina, 59-year old Richard James Verone handed a bank teller a note claiming that he had a gun and demanding $1 from the bank vault. He then told the bank staff “I'll be sitting right over here, on the chair, waiting for the police.”

In a tale that could only happen in America, Verone robbed the bank in hopes of getting medical care while serving his jail sentence. According to Verone he has, “some kind of chest growth, two ruptured discs and a foot ailment” and could not afford insurance because he couldn’t find a job.

“If it’s called manipulation, then, out of necessity, because I need medical care, then I guess I am manipulating the courts to get medical care,” he told a local TV station.

As a reminder, stories like this illustrate why the Affordable Care Act, signed into law last year by President Obama, is so important. Under the new law, in 2014 everyone will be guaranteed comprehensive coverage through their state’s new insurance market with tax credits to make their policy affordable. When Republicans in Congress demand that “Obamacare” be repealed, they’re fighting to preserve a status quo where people like Verone will be better off going to prison than going to a hospital to get the medical care they need.

-- ABC News / The Atlantic Wire / CWA News