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.
Please post an example of this poster considering the notion of "pulling your own weight and taking responsibility for your actions" to be offensive?We will wait because you surely wouldn't just suggest that someone was unpatriotic or similar simply because they disagree with you, right?
And this is why I am madly passionate about primary healthcare.
It teaches people how to manage their illness and prevent further acute relapses. And while I believe that it doesnt always work, gosh its brilliant when patients really 'get it'
Good day:As long as we live in a free country where doctors, hospitals, and pharmacies can decide what forms of payment they accept, there is no universal health care. Obamacare doesn't control healthcare costs. Obamacare doesn't guarantee healthcare access. Obamacare doesn't even guarantee affordable health insurance.
Obamacare sold on lies then and now. Thanks to Jonathan Gruber for revealing Obamacare deception - The Washington Post
Thank you.
In my country Doctors, hospitals and pharmacies also get to decide what forms of payment they accept here as well.
Its not a uniquely American characteristic
If we had a system like New Zealand's we wouldn't need Obamacare.But we, unfortunately, don't have one, so we do need Obamacare.
Our system is not perfect by any means.
Working in district nursing I did alot of community palliative care. Alot of young working people who had paid taxes for many years who ended up with a terminal diagnosis. The system took care of these people at the time they needed it the most.
Good day:
My hope as time goes on that more and more providers (doctors, hospitals, pharmacies, etc.) continue to either limit or outright deny accepting any insurance company that is a part of Obamacare. As the network decreases, hopefully more and more uninformed voters will then get the gist that Obamacare was never about access to healthcare. More and more middle class Americans have already been getting the hint that Obamacare was also never about affordable insurance (it isn't about healthcare since access to healthcare is not guaranteed).
Personally, what I have trouble understanding is that nursing is supposed to be the most trustworthy profession built on integrity. If that's true, I've trouble understanding why nurses can support a bill (let alone law) that:
1. Was sold completely on lie after lie after lie.
2. Was passed without being read (that should be a complete red flag for any educated person).
3. Was never about healthcare since having insurance that can be rejected by a provider isn't healthcare or access to healthcare.
4. Forces people to buy something they may not want or need; and even if they want it, cannot customize it to fit their needs (i.e. as a 51 year old man, I should be able to state I don't want maternity coverage, invitro fertilization coverage, etc. The reason I cannot do so is so that prices are jacked up as much as possible to redistribute wealth via subsidies).
5. Forces persons to either choose paying an increasing tax or go against their conscious and purchase ACA regulated insurance where their money will be used to murder innocent babies.
To me, any single point above rules out my support if I want to state I have integrity, telling the truth matters, that I believe in a person's (patient or otherwise) autonomy, and that I will advocate for a person's autonomy.
Think about it... if you endorse anything sold on lies, doesn't that mean you believe lying is ok and therefore makes you less trustworthy? If you endorse passing bills that are not read prior to passing doesn't that mean you believe it is ok to do things without making sure they are ok to do via reading, research, etc? Should you be trusted to give any medication because it might be too time consuming to research side effects, adverse reactions, drug interactions, etc? If you believe a person's autonomy doesn't matter, should you be trusted a nurse to advocate for a patient's right to refuse medical treatment even if it is life saving? The list goes on.
Thank you.
1. Was sold completely on lie after lie after lie.2. Was passed without being read (that should be a complete red flag for any educated person).
3. Was never about healthcare since having insurance that can be rejected by a provider isn't healthcare or access to healthcare.
4. Forces people to buy something they may not want or need; and even if they want it, cannot customize it to fit their needs (i.e. as a 51 year old man, I should be able to state I don't want maternity coverage, invitro fertilization coverage, etc. The reason I cannot do so is so that prices are jacked up as much as possible to redistribute wealth via subsidies).
5. Forces persons to either choose paying an increasing tax or go against their conscious and purchase ACA regulated insurance where their money will be used to murder innocent babies.
1. Many of these so called lies that people complain about are either minor or can be attributed to not understanding how things work. "Never attribute to malice what can be attributed to stupidity." Just because a politician let his mouth run about something he was passionate about doesn't me we should go back to a world where insurance companies kicked children off for being sick and then having a pre existing condition, they couldn't get new insurance.
2. The ACA was available to be read for everyone in the US before it was passed. Even an educated person who read it can not always predict what will happen to a law afterwards.
3. Since people get to choose their plans they get to shape the access they have, just like I did by making sure my plan was accepted by my doctor before getting it. Many doctors offices hired navigators here, and one of the major hospital groups even has it's own navigator system to help you make sure you get a plan that covers them. Not only did it provide access, but created jobs in my area.
4.By providing a standard of services that insurance most cover for each individual we eliminate the fact that insurance companies used to be able to, and did, discriminate against women. The fact I have the ability to get pregnant doesn't mean I should have to pay more for insurance.
5. The ACA does not fund abortions. Contrary to what Hobby Lobby thinks, science says that IUDs and Plan B are not abortions. Beyond that, if you don't want to have an abortion don't get one. If you feel so strongly about making sure your money does not go to an insurance company that pays for abortions though, there are options. Medical sharing ministry members got a special provision under the ACA that exempts them from the individual mandate. Programs like MediShare were setup specifically so people with strong beliefs about abortion and birth control do not have to pay into a system that covers those services.
Also, insisting that we should get rid of something because "politicians lied about it" strikes me as a bit like throwing the baby out with the bath water. I assume that anytime a politician stands behind a podium and says something, something will be said that isn't completely true, either on purpose or because of lack of knowledge. That does not mean we should wish every political effort failure to spite them.
And this is why I am madly passionate about primary healthcare.It teaches people how to manage their illness and prevent further acute relapses. And while I believe that it doesnt always work, gosh its brilliant when patients really 'get it'
I'm a huge believer in preventive care. For many years before I lost my insurance I knew I was bordering on diabetic. I've been having issues with reactive hypoglycemia around 20 years now. Working with my doctors I always managed to keep it from getting worse. Sometime during my not being insured I crossed over the line. In the last year though I went from being told I was diagnosed to having A1cs in the 5 range, completely controlled, uncomplicated thanks to primary care.
Anna S, RN
452 Posts
Sounds tempting! :)