Jacob's Big Dumb Heart

On December 26, our best friend Jacob was diagnosed with a life-threatening heart condition. Things happened very quickly, and after a few terrifying weeks of tests and machines and invasive procedures and so many nurses and doctors and CT scans, he’ll be undergoing open heart surgery to replace his aortic valve January 21. He’s 37 years old. And for a guy who’s been making and consuming horror flicks his entire life, this is still scary as hell.

If you know Jacob, you’ve heard him rant for years about the need for healthcare reform that focuses on keeping people healthy and improving quality of life – not lining the pockets of corporate executives. 

As such, though the Affordable Care Act allowed him coverage after many years working as a freelancer without insurance and is allowing this operation to take place at all, he’s still facing a brutal mountain of bills, having maxed out his deductibles for both 2019 and 2020 and/or paid out of pocket for:

Diagnostic tests (EKG, three echocardiograms – external and internal – catheter imaging, etc.)
Cardiologist/surgeon consultations
Multiple rounds of blood work
Multiple dental procedures to be cleared for surgery
The CT Scan 
The surgery itself

Additionally, thanks to changes in Covered California’s networks effective January 1, Jacob had to relinquish his Obamacare subsidy and pay full market rate to continue his Bronze plan with his general practitioner, cardiologists, diagnosticians, and cardiothoracic surgery team at UCLA.

All funds collected here will go towards out-of-pocket medical costs, basic expenses during his eight-week recovery, and possible at-home monitoring equipment.

Thank you so much for reading this and for your generosity. No amount is too small. Jacob is the best there is and this is saving his life. And we need him. So yeah, thanks.