There was a time when I would've considered the ACA unnecessary. That I would've been annoyed by it. This was also a time where I had little to no interest in politics. It's funny how life has a way of humbling a person and teaching them something new about themselves on a regular basis. This is a story about how I ended up needing the help in order to make myself better.
"Well why didn't you just get a new inhaler?" I felt a sinking pit in my stomach. I was at a follow up visit to my doctor after ending up in the ER a few weeks before because bronchitis had made my asthma worse and I couldn't breathe. The first thing my doctor asked me was where my inhaler was when this had happened. After all, that was in my plan. I tried to explain to her that I only had one inhaler and it had been stolen the week before when I was riding the bus. Somehow, despite my explanation she didn't understand that since I was uninsured at the time, I just couldn't afford a new one. It was only after the ER trip that a friend of mine had pity on me and bought the inhaler for me.
I lost my insurance in April 2012 because I had been working at a call center that had outsourced its customer service department overseas. This was my fourth lay off in about six years. The whole time I had been trying to go back to school but in playing musical jobs I had never managed to do so. I decided to make school my focus and work secondary and deal with it.
Because I have asthma, I've never been able to get insurance without going through my work before. COBRA would've cost me over six hundred a month, and while my state had opened a high risk pool, it was still too expensive. My NP was awesome and made sure I got refills of my medication before I lost my insurance and gave me a list of community services for when I did lose it, because she knew I wouldn't be able to come back afterwards.
I did everything I could to make sure I would be taken care of. I signed up for a prescription plan at a local pharmacy, I found local clinic that was free, run on community donations. Still there are things that free clinics couldn't handle. Waiting all week to see a doctor because you got sick on Sunday and the free clinic is only open on Saturday isn't helpful when you're so sick you can't breathe. The doctors are volunteers so there's no guarantee of continuous care. In fact, the push is to get you into a local public health or community clinic, but they often were not taking new adult patients or were an hour drive away.
It was about a month after I lost my insurance when I found a lump on my right side, along the edge of the breast tissue. The free clinic provided me a referral but when I called the places they suggested I was turned away. I was told I was too young, that the office no longer provided services, or that they were out of funds for the year. I continued to fight to find a way to access services, but without a referral from a PCP I was getting nowhere. I finally took the time to bus out to one of the few clinics taking patients. They contacted a local imaging center attached to a public hospital to get me in. This started in June, I was finally in for imaging in October. In November I would get a biopsy and find out it was benign. It took me six months from start to finish to find out what was there.
It would be another year before I would get insurance again. In that time I ended up in the ER enough times the doctors started to recognize me. There really wasn't anything either of us could do. I couldn't manage my health without being able to afford regular doctor's visits and medication and they couldn't make a solution appear out of thin air. My wisdom teeth got infected and had to be removed but had to wait two months for a dentist who would help. I was on antibiotics so long I ended up with a GI infection. Bronchitis, allergic reaction, a set of second degree burns from how bad at cooking I can be. They got to deal with it all, despite the fact that most of these things were preventable.
All if this changed in January of last year. I live in one of the states that approved the Medicaid expansion and set up their own healthcare exchange. I was there on day one to shake hands with the Governor, tell him my story, and sign up. I stood up with him to others to encourage them to use the exchange as well. It is the only day of class I've missed since I started back.
Because of the Affordable Care Act I was able to get needed blood work that I had not been able to afford. Reliable access to medication. The first thing my PCP did, remembering how just a few months earlier I had ended up in the ER because I didn't have an inhaler was make sure to get me a prescription for one so I had a backup. One thing I know is I appreciate the opportunity more than I could ever express.
I know there are naysayers out there who will tell me that those things are not really free and that someone has to pay for them. One day I'll graduate and that person will be me. I seriously hope that I am paying to make sure someone gets the care they need with the money I pay into the system. It's saner than paying for what happens when they can't. The system we have isn't perfect, but it can only get better if we put effort into it.
Does this mean that in your view American poor are not poor enough to deserve compassion, emapthy, or assistance from the society they live in? Are you one of the American "conservatives" who believes that American poor must live in 3rd world poverty in order to qualify as poor?
You are putting words in my mouth. Also known as too much baloney.
Specializes in NICU, PICU, Transport, L&D, Hospice.
You would not be wishing this is if Obamacare were any good.
Exactly
If we had passed single payer rather than a reworked conservative program to tweak the health insurance market liberals and progressives would be much happier.
If we had passed single payer rather than a reworked conservative program to tweak the health insurance market liberals and progressives would be much happier.
Thank you for admitting that obamacare sucks. Jaycam, take notes.
You are lying again. Unemployed Americans are fully eligible for SNAP, welfare checks, and medicaid.
Wrong again. SNAP is FEDERALLY-FUNDED, not state funded. Do your homework before you attack me.
TANF (what most people call welfare) is Temporary Aid for Needy Families. You do not qualify as a single adult with no kids so no, not everyone gets welfare checks. SNAP requires that you work 20 hours a week unless you qualify for some other program such as BFET or SSID. Medicaid is still not available to low income adults in many states.
SNAP is federal but state run and many states choose to supplement it.
You are lying again. Unemployed Americans are fully eligible for SNAP, welfare checks, and medicaid.
It is a common misconception, but entirely untru,e that the "poor" or "unemployed" are necessarily eligible for Medicaid. The states have cut back and cut back on Medicaid over the years. I can tell you for a fact that, in the state in which I've spent most of my adult life, adults are not eligible for Medicaid, regardless of how poor or sick they may be, unless they a) are pregnant, b) are permanently disabled, or c) have one of a handful of chronic diseases specifically identified in the state law. Most states have similar restrictions. Just being poor and needing healthcare is not enough -- if you don't meet the narrow, specified criteria, there is no way to qualify.
That's exactly why the "Medicaid expansion" was written into the ACA (with the Feds picking up nearly all the cost); to convert Medicaid back into being what it was originally intended to be and started out as: Healthcare coverage for the poor. Any poor, all the poor.
jaycam, whether you admit it or not, the benefits that poor people receive outweigh the taxes they pay. I know you want people to believe that poor people pay more taxes than rich people, but that is not the case.
It is a common misconception, but entirely untru,e that the "poor" or "unemployed" are necessarily eligible for Medicaid. The states have cut back and cut back on Medicaid over the years. I can tell you for a fact that, in the state in which I've spent most of my adult life, adults are not eligible for Medicaid, regardless of how poor or sick they may be, unless they a) are pregnant, b) are permanently disabled, or c) have one of a handful of chronic diseases specifically identified in the state law. Most states have similar restrictions. Just being poor and needing healthcare is not enough -- if you don't meet the narrow, specified criteria, there is no way to qualify.
That's exactly why the "Medicaid expansion" was written into the ACA (with the Feds picking up nearly all the cost); to convert Medicaid back into being what it was originally intended to be and started out as: Healthcare coverage for the poor. Any poor, all the poor.
Your statement contradicts itself. Do you admit that adults are eligible for Medicaid THIS YEAR?
Specializes in NICU, PICU, Transport, L&D, Hospice.
Thank you for admitting that obamacare sucks. Jaycam, take notes.
Please post my statement that "obamacare sucks".
Your snarky remark seems to miss the point that while the ACA is not what progressives wanted (it is a tired conservative plan) it was at least the beginning of a change and change is what we sorely need. It is clear that 'conservatives' don't want change at all in this area and are therefore very unhappy with the ACA and the trend toward change. Oh well.
Your snarky remark seems to miss the point that while the ACA is not what progressives wanted (it is a tired conservative plan) it was at least the beginning of a change and change is what we sorely need. It is clear that 'conservatives' don't want change at all in this area and are therefore very unhappy with the ACA and the trend toward change. Oh well.
Either way, you admitted that "the ACA is not what progressives wanted"
If you believe that any change is better than no change, then you should try walking backwards from now on.
Turtles2
135 Posts
You are putting words in my mouth. Also known as too much baloney.