Healthcare Cost Caps

Vickie Villegas has faced steep healthcare costs while living with multiple sclerosis. Her story is all too common in California, where the average cost of health care is the third highest in the nation.

– Shot on commission for CalMatters –

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Vickie Villegas had to pay $3,000 out-of-pocket every time she was treated for multiple sclerosis, a disease that attacks the central nervous system. Her doctor recommended she get treatments twice a year to keep the disease from worsening, but she couldn’t afford it, the Pasadena-area resident said.

“I just couldn’t keep up,” Villegas said. Her disease progressed, and she lost use of her left hand.

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Villegas, whose family started a GoFundMe in order for her to get a stem cell transplant in 2021, said her multiple sclerosis is better these days. “I’ve managed getting through this the best I can, but I don’t think that’s true for everyone. Cost is limiting people from receiving adequate care,” Villegas says.

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