Image Source: thedoctorschannel.com
…my child’s life is worth all this political strife.
By Lauree Benton
Editor’s Note: This is a follow up to a previous contribution, “One Woman’s Story: Why I Will Be Enrolling in the ACA (Obamacare) Marketplace.”
My baby boy has insurance!
I came to that realization just after the clock struck midnight on New Year’s Eve, ringing in 2014 and all the possibility it brings.
I let out a huge sigh of relief—one so large that it may have improved my posture. I stood up straighter than I had in seven long months. I may have even let out a tear or two. Happy tears. Relieved tears. Tears of a mother who no longer has to worry that little kid’s tendencies toward hurting themselves could send my family into financial chaos.
We no longer have to pay out of pocket for his doctor’s visits. We no longer have to take him to a separate clinic, with a doctor who makes me uncomfortable, to get his vaccines. We no longer have to worry that if I uselessly panic (again) sending us to the hospital at 2 a.m. on a Tuesday, that it will cost us the equivalent of a month’s rent, or more. Most importantly: if something really does go wrong, we don’t have to worry that we will spend his college fund on healthcare bills.
And we can afford it. Albeit still expensive, the Healthcare.gov marketplace is saving us $250 per month over his previous plan (the one that got canceled because it didn’t get paid.) And this plan has no deductible! So there are few out of pocket costs associated with his doctor’s visits. Whereas before, even with insurance, we paid for a majority of his healthcare as a newborn– nine months later we are paying much less for more benefits. I never thought I would get so excited over something so boring as insurance.
But it’s not boring. It’s potentially life saving. And my child’s life is worth all this political strife. So is yours. It’s worth the arguments with the tea partiers. It’s worth the electoral battles. It’s worth the headaches that have been associated with being a Democrat post 2010. It’s worth the fights that will continue until the ACA is fully implemented and perfected, and every parent in a similar situation in every state can have the relief I felt on January 1.
Happy and HEALTHY New Year to all!
Source
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Michael Moore’s New York Times Editorial on Obamacare:
The Obamacare We Deserve
The dirty little secret that Progressives REFUSE to acknowledge is that single payer never, EVER had a chance to pass. IT. WAS. NEVER. GOING. TO HAPPEN! And we’d be stuck with the same ‘ol system we had before. At least the public option would have been a reasonable compromise, which is an even bigger failing of the ACA.
The truth is that the ACA is a good first step. It’s a work in progress, and the hope is that eventually as a country we can start moving toward single payer. To go after single payer right off was a poor bet and a recipe for abject failure, and then where would we be?
Bottom line: Don’t complain because we didn’t get single payer. It was too much, too fast, and was unobtainable. On the other hand, the fact that we don’t have a public option is fair game.
That’s not to say that Moore isn’t right, and that single payer isn’t the preferable path. But at least now we have a chance to continue to work toward that goal, because any movement in that direction–and the ACA is definite movement–is a positive step. It (single payer) won’t happen anytime soon, but I do think eventually it will happen.
It’ll probably take several years just to iron out the wrinkles in Obamacare. However, as others have said, it’s a step in the right direction. The malicious aspects of health insurance pre Obamacare are gone. That’s huge in and of itself. The right wing has demonized Obamacare to the point that there will be negative feedback about it for years to come.
I’ve been supportive of Obamacare all along. But at the moment, my low income healthcare program was cancelled, and I was told it would switch automatically to Medi-Cal. I even got the letter saying I didn’t have to do anything, that I’m covered. I just went to my first physical therapy appt last week because I need both knees replaced. But now Medi-Cal can’t find me in their system and physical therapy says I can’t come back until the referral comes through. I am now a middle aged woman, with debilitating arthritis and I am NOT covered at all. They said sorry, they will look into it! How fucked up is that?? No meds, no therapy….ridic!