A couple of months ago, I posted a diary here titled, "Let Me Die?" I was uninsured and had been hit by a bus. Somebody called 911, and the hospital performed surgery on a leg that had bent in a manner that God had not intended. I wrote that because I felt I had become a face to the question about the uninsured from the Republican debates. Now, I am a face for Obamacare.
What do I mean? I am currently insured by New York State's Bridge plan. I have a pre-existing condition. In fact, I had to prove that I had a pre-existing condition to qualify for this plan! I also had to prove I was a citizen, which I imagine was a Republican addition to the law. The day after my coverage began, I went to a plastic surgeon to get a consultation about necrotic (dead) skin that resulted from being hit by the bus. The doctor's office put in a claim on my insurance and got paid.
Since that day, I have been back to that plastic surgeon, who removed all that necrotic skin and later performed a skin graft. I paid $20 co-pays for the office visits, and a $250 co-pay for the out-patient skin graft, with my new insurance paying the balance. Additionally, the insurance covered my visits to my primary care physician to get pre-surgery clearance. I have high blood pressure, another pre-existing condition. I was not responding to the first medication prescribed, but I did not pay a cent for that one or its replacement.
The New York Bridge Plan terminates in 2014, when Obamacare goes into full effect, and I'll buy insurance from a state set-up exchange. However, I have this insurance now. Governor Romney and other Republicans talk about repealing Obamacare to much applause at rallies. Repealing Obamacare means kicking me off coverage. I am buying insurance from a private company and they are covering pre-existing conditions. Who do I send the bills to if Governor Romney repeals Obamacare?
The pre-existing condition benefit of Obamacare is, in my opinion, one of the most important aspects to the law. If it is repealed, and the Ryan Vouchercare replaces Medicare, imagine what happens when mom gets sick. even if she had coverage, she loses it. Why? Because being old is a pre-existing condition.
I am not a recent college graduate staying on my parent's health insurance plan for an extra few years. I'm not a witch (okay, I had to do that). I am a 47 year old man making $45,000 a year, with high blood pressure, depression, anxiety, and I had just gotten hit by a bus. Remove the bus from the equation, and you probably know somebody like me. When you take that into account, do you really want to repeal MY health insurance?