LIMERICK — Richard “Rocky” D’Andrea was Theresa’s beloved husband. He died March 22 of cancer.

Four days later, the Maine Legislature passed a bill that, with a few exceptions, eliminates lifetime and annual caps from health insurance plans. It is expected to be signed by Gov. John Baldacci soon and will go into effect Jan. 1.

The D’Andreas had championed the bill. And while its passage would not have helped Rocky and Theresa D’Andrea, its provisions will help others Mainers who find themselves in an insurance nightmare at the worst possible time: When someone is very ill, when the worst diagnosis comes, when all energies are focused on a recovery if that is possible, or on treasuring precious last weeks and days.

“I don’t want anyone to waste their time like I did on things like money when your heart is emptying out,” said Theresa, at her home Tuesday.

Rocky D’Andrea was diagnosed with Stage Four melanoma in September 2008, Theresa said in an interview this week. The American Cancer Society does not list a Stage Five, but notes that by Stage Four, the cancer has spread to organs or lymph nodes.

As the D’Andreas concentrated on Rocky’s treatment, the bills started pouring in. At one point they totaled $1.6 million.

Theresa, a family advocate with the Parent Federation and a social worker for 30 years,  deals with health and human services issues all the time. But she, said, she wasn’t aware of the insurance cap of $250,000 on the family’s health insurance policy.

“I didn’t understand what our cap meant,” she said.

She soon learned.

Rocky’s employer was self-insured. Theresa said the company kept him on the policy as long as possible after he was no longer able to work and then the D’Andreas picked up the cost of premiums through COBRA.

“I paid, not realizing we had capped out,” she said. Eventually the couple was reimbursed for those COBRA payments, 17 months later.

In the meantime, bills for Rocky’s treatments continued to pile up. There were lengthy hospital stays in Maine and in Massachusetts. At one point during Rocky’s stay in a Massachusetts hospital, he was receiving a cancer treatment that cost $9,000 a pop ”“ four times a day, his wife said. Theresa said she finally called the manufacturer, who offered the medicine for free, but complications with the hospital ensued and that never came to pass.

The bills kept pouring in. Credit cards were maxed out, savings were tapped. Through negotiations, Theresa D’Andrea was eventually able to reduce the medical debt to about $60,000.

Meanwhile, as the months passed, a Bowdoinham state representative, Democrat Seth Berry, submitted a bill to remove insurance caps at the behest of a constituent in his district.

“Obviously, in a global recession people are more at risk than ever before of going bankrupt,” said Berry in a telephone interview this morning.

He noted that 50 percent of bankruptcies are related to medical issues.

“At the end of the day, insurance needs to mean insurance,” Berry said.

The bill had opposition from insurance companies and in committee, where Berry said the split came along party lines. While the bill passed the house on the first vote ”“ 99 to 38 ”“ a second vote resulted in a unanimous approval.

Rocky D’Andrea, though very ill, participated in a news conference when the bill was first introduced earlier this year. Theresa testified before the Health and Human Services Committee, held on a day when Rocky was too ill to make the trip. He was scheduled to meet Gov. Baldacci in early March but that was the day his cancer was diagnosed as terminal, said Theresa. He died three weeks later.

Had the D’Andreas not testified and participated in publicity about the bill, Berry said he doubts it would have passed.

The bill would not have helped the D’Andreas for two reasons, said Cherilee Budrick of Consumers for Affordable Healthcare. The date the provisions go into effect is January and an exception to the bill doesn’t remove caps for those Mainers who have policies that have a maximum cap of less than $1 million.

But they championed it anyway, noted Budrick.

“The D’Andreas had insurance. They paid their premiums every month. They paid their taxes; between the two of them, for 60 years,” said Budrick. “Rocky served in the Army during Vietnam. Yet, Theresa will likely still be paying for his care for years after his death. This is no way to treat our hardworking Maine families. We hope Theresa will find some happiness in knowing Rocky’s fight was not in vain and that this bill will help others.”

Rocky and Theresa are originally from the mid-west. Back in Nebraska, Rocky had been a foster parent to more than 60 youngsters. The couple came to Maine on a vacation several years ago and fell in love with the state. They moved here, got jobs and proceeded to work toward retirement, Theresa said.

Theresa will be in the audience today at the Portland Expo, where President Obama will speak about his health insurance plan, which recently won approval. A provision of the bill removes insurance caps nationwide in 2014.

When Rocky was sick, Theresa looked for a way to help others. Besides testifying in favor of the insurance cap bill, she started sewing pillow cases for kids in cancer care units through an organization called Conkerr.

“Rocky earned his own pillow case,” said Theresa, as the tears flowed.

Rocky died at home, in his wife’s arms.

— Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 or twells@journaltribune.com.