I experienced two events today which really brought home for me the impending reality of the Affordable Care Act, aka "Obamacare". Yes, of course I know intellectually that the Healthcare Exchanges are starting to accept enrollment on October 1st, and that the Big One (no denial for pre-existing conditions, etc) kicks off starting on January 1st.
However, there's a big difference between knowing this and seeing evidence of it coming into fruition.
With that in mind, the first thing was a newsletter I received in the mail today from our own health insurance provider, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. It's a 4-page brochure; I've scanned in 2 of the pages (the other 2 aren't really relevant).
Check out the lower right-hand corner of page 2 for a simple headline that--I kid you not--actually caused a slight shiver down my spine when I read it:
Do you see it? Second page, lower right:
"MARK YOUR CALENDARS: CHANGE IS COMING."
Yowza.
The second incident is more important to me on a personal level.
You see, I'm friends with a whole family who are, for the most part, extremely right-wing. I mean, one or two of them are moderate on a couple of issues (one, in particular, is surprisingly progressive and active on green energy/climate change issues, and reasonable on other social issues, but solid red on most other items), but several are FAR right-wing on pretty much everything. Several of them, I'm sad to say, fall into the category of the Tea Party, and hate--I mean, HATE--President Obama with a passion.
Anyway, one of the far-right types happens to be recently married...and more recently...pregnant.
So, it was not without irony--that she posted an open call on Facebook for advice on finding a health insurance plan for her and her husband.
You see, they lost their insurance when her husband changed jobs, and they don't qualify for COBRA, and she's 3 months pregnant, which means that she now has a "pre-existing condition" that makes it difficult to get insurance, and...
Well, you get the picture.
So, various people in the thread are trying to offer advice, and one guy snarks "Don't worry! Obamacare will make everything better!"
I checked the guy out, and he lists himself as, sure enough "Tea Party Conservative" (and apparently both Rand Paul and Ted Cruz are among his fave-raves).
So, I noted, with my very Best Behavior Suit on, as tactfully and neutrally as I could, that:
"actually, yes, under Obamacare, pre-existing conditions (ie, being pregnant) will no longer prevent her from getting insurance elsewhere...On the other hand, I don't think that provision kicks in until January..."
I was expecting her to rip me apart for "politicizing" the discussion...but was pleasantly shocked to read this response (emphasis mine):
“My insurance guy informed me it kicks in January 1 (so far). He said we can get paperwork in to make sure I'm covered at that point but I will still have five months where my pregnancy won't be covered.”
(Obamacare) will have a positive impact on me. I'm not going to turn this into a political discussion, nor do I want it to be BY ANYONE. This is merely a conversation about coverage for pregnant women who lose their insurance coverage and what we can do about it.”
Well, now. You could've knocked me over with a feather. At last, she sees the light...
Update: I should also note that, on a personal level, my wife and I are in our 40's with a single young child. Currently we're paying about $800/month for 70% coverage, but that doesn't include office visits (beyond 2 per year). It will be fascinating to see how our situation is impacted by the new Health Insurance Marketplace.
I'm obviously hoping that we'll either get the same coverage at a lower rate, or better coverage at the same rate. Michigan has 14 insurance companies that'll be listed:
Alliance
Blue Care Network
BCBSM
Consumers Mutual Insurance
Health Alliance Plan
Humana
McLaren
Meridian
Molina
Physicians Health Plan
Priority Health
Priority Health Insurance Company
Total Health Care
United Healthcare
Of course, in Michigan, our "states rights" GOP legislature decided to take a pass on actually running the exchange...meaning that it'll be run by the federal government. So much for "states rights", but whatever.