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.
Specializes in NICU, PICU, Transport, L&D, Hospice.
But they are all in the GOP list of values currently being espoused.
Totally agree. That is my big thing here. Things aren't perfect, but better than before.
I hear you.
The right to bear arms is an American right that is shared by all citizens regardless of political party. Similarly, Americans of all stripe and beliefs own guns and support reasonable regulation of that right. Protecting religious freedom is an American value it is part of the reason that many people of a variety of religions choose to immigrate here, they are free to worship (or not) however they prefer as long as they are not breaking other laws in the process. Many Americans support not only the freedom to practice religion in this country, but also the right to be free from having religion, religious laws, or religious doctrine forced upon us.
Finally, discussing the funding of a government program before the bills are passed or before the policy is inacted is important to republican lawmakers when a democrat inhabits the WH, not so much when a republican occupies the residence. The nation has observed this phenomenon again and again in the Reagan presidency, the GHWBush presidency and the GWBush presidency. That inconsistency suggests that such fiscal responsibility is only a "value" for republicans in it's ability to be used as a political weapon.
You can try to convince me that poor people pay tons of taxes, but it won't work.Subsiidies are not tax credits. Poor people who do not qualify for medicaid get huge subsidies.
Subsidies are not tax credits because they are actually...
People who get their insurance from their employer also get similar subsidies, why shouldn't someone buying their insurance on their own get similar tax treatment?
You're generally stance appears contradictory; should people be required to pay what they can into the services they are legally guaranteed or should they not?
Subsidies are not tax credits because they are actually...
People who get their insurance from their employer also get similar subsidies, why shouldn't someone buying their insurance on their own get similar tax treatment?
Because TAXPAYERS are being forced to pay for obamacare subsidies. They do not pay for employer insurance of other people.
Specializes in NICU, PICU, Transport, L&D, Hospice.
Subsidies are not tax credits because they are actually...
People who get their insurance from their employer also get similar subsidies, why shouldn't someone buying their insurance on their own get similar tax treatment?
You're generally stance appears contradictory; should people be required to pay what they can into the services they are legally guaranteed or should they not?
Be careful, if you ask him/her questions you will be ignored as that is considered rude for some reason.
Specializes in NICU, PICU, Transport, L&D, Hospice.
Because TAXPAYERS are being forced to pay for obamacare subsidies. They do not pay for employer insurance.
So you would prefer that taxpayers paid for the unisured care in the acute care facilities? You don't mind that this is the most expensive and least effective way for taxpayers to pay for indigent care? Or perhaps you just prefer that poor folks who cannot afford health insurance without a subsidy just don't pursue health care?
Because TAXPAYERS are being forced to pay for obamacare subsidies. They do not pay for employer insurance of other people.
I don't think you understand how it works. If someone gets a plan that costs $15k from their employer they pay no income tax on that $15k worth of income, saving typically about $2000 in taxes. Someone who buys a plan that costs $15k on their own is using income that they already paid $2000 in taxes on, the subsidies use that tax money everyone in the individual market already paid to help them afford insurance, varying by how much they need assistance.
Requiring everyone to carry insurance means that even people who cannot afford the full cost will still at least pay something. This means some way of covering the remaining amount is required. The other option is to leave them uninsured which means everyone else is guaranteed to be liable for their full health coverage costs, not just part of it. In the old system it was all-or-nothing, someone who couldn't afford the full cost paid nothing into the system, even though they still had the same potential to incur major bills. How are you suggesting it should work? Do you at least have some idea of what you think would be better?
toomuchbaloney
16,074 Posts
I hear you.
The right to bear arms is an American right that is shared by all citizens regardless of political party. Similarly, Americans of all stripe and beliefs own guns and support reasonable regulation of that right. Protecting religious freedom is an American value it is part of the reason that many people of a variety of religions choose to immigrate here, they are free to worship (or not) however they prefer as long as they are not breaking other laws in the process. Many Americans support not only the freedom to practice religion in this country, but also the right to be free from having religion, religious laws, or religious doctrine forced upon us.
Finally, discussing the funding of a government program before the bills are passed or before the policy is inacted is important to republican lawmakers when a democrat inhabits the WH, not so much when a republican occupies the residence. The nation has observed this phenomenon again and again in the Reagan presidency, the GHWBush presidency and the GWBush presidency. That inconsistency suggests that such fiscal responsibility is only a "value" for republicans in it's ability to be used as a political weapon.