Eight months ago Nyceve conducted an informal poll in a diary titled, Is the Affordable Care Act helping you -- at all, asking whether Kossacks had benefited from the new (circa 2010) health care law. I then attempted to tally the results in a followup diary. (Bottom line: to the question her diary title asked, 55% of relevant comments suggested a 'yes' answer, 45% of relevant comments suggested 'no'.)
Now that we are ending the year, I'd like to conduct a bit more of a rigorous poll asking whether the PPACA has benefited you or a member of your immediate family. I could probably do a better survey if the diary could have more than one polling question in it, but we'll make due -- lemons, lemonade, whatever.
So lets begin:
There are a large variety of benefits the PPACA potentially provides; some significant, some not so. I can't possibly list them all in one poll. Therefore I've chosen seven of the benefits I consider important:
- Adult children coverage,
- PCIP coverage,
- Medicare donut hole savings,
- lifetime/yearly caps,
- Business tax credits,
- Right to appeal,
- Coverage for non-adult children with pre-existing conditions
I've also provided an 'Other' category which I'm hoping if people check it then they will use the comments to be more explicit.
I've left out a big part of the PPACA -- treatments someone might have received at a Federal Health Clinics, now funded by a large amount of money from the PPACA. That's because a) it's not obvious whether the health clinic would have been there anyway and b) it's not obvious to a patient that funding from the PPACA is what allowed him or her to be treated. But if you have received care at a FHC you might just mention it in the comments.
The poll distinguishes between you, personally, and someone in your immediate family. I use the acronym 'simif' for 'someone in my immediate family'. If both you and siyif (got it?) have benefited, then use the 'More than one' option and also please provide details in the comments.
P.S.:This isn't meant to be a diary either in favor of or casting aspersions on the PPACA. I firmly believe that yes, the law doesn't go far enough. Yes, the law helps some people but not others. Yes, private insurers shouldn't be being rewarded. Yes, the mandate sucks, or it doesn't. Yes, single payer would be far, far better. And yes, this is what we have for the foreseeable future, so let's see if it is doing some good.
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Starting point for information on the PPACA.
An important diary about the PPACA's Pre-existing Condition Plan -- Read This And You Just Might Save a Life. Really.