I am addicted to two websites. DailyKos (which I won't link to - find it yourself) and Reddit.Reddit calls itself the front page of the internet and is basically a site that links to other sites. It also has what is called subreddits that deal with various topics, such as gaming, hobbies and politics. Today in the subreddit politics was the following:
I was 25 and unemployed and under my parents medical plan when I had skin cancer removed from my back. How has OBAMACARE helped you? I am fair skinned and have always been aware of how much sun exposure I have had. At the utterance of my father who also had skin cancer removed ten year prior, I was tested. I was positive for malignant melanoma on a spot on my back. My doctor said that it was a blessing that I caught this so early.
I got a job nine months later after I turned 26 that gave me health benefits. To get the same checkup and surgery would have cost me more than I made in six months.
How has OBAMACARE helped you or the ones you know?
Some of the stories provided were amazing. See below the squiggly for more testimonials from Reddit.
I am just going to put these in blockquotes. I don't think any commentary is necessary.
My sister was born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, among other things. By the age of three, she had three open heart surgeries, an ovary removed, her appendix out, and her tonsils removed. The medicines that she will need to take for the rest of her life, in addition to the other heart surgeries that she will eventually need are very, very costly.
Our health care providers told my parents that they would be dropping her at age 18, and after some shopping around we learned that no other insurer would pick her up. This meant that there was a high likelihood of death during her early adult years. But, thanks to Obamacare, she can now be covered for life with these preexisting conditions and without any benefit cap.
Now age 12, she is a very active young lady. She is involved with many community volunteer activities and is very inspirational to me. I am very thankful that we no longer have those serious worries of constant debt and looming death. I love her so much!
I wish that I could get some of my extended family members to recognize the seriousness of this issue.
I had a serious case of appendicitis. My surgeon told me after the surgery that it was the biggest appendix she's ever removed. The total bill for the surgery would have cost my family over $90k. They ended up paying around 3 grand. I was over 21 and the provision of Obamacare that required insurance companies to keep people on their parents plan until they were 26 went into effect literally the day before this happened. The insurance company was willing to keep me on for a few more years anyway, but I doubt they would have fronted 90k if they didn't have too.
Also, a few weeks ago i had to go to the hospital because of abdominal pains again. Diverticulitis. Very rare for someone in their early 20's. The CAT scan would have cost $20k but only cost my parents a few hundred dollars. Diverticulitis is considered a pre-existing condition because once you have diverticuli (sacs that form on your large intestine walls) they never go away and frequently become infected again.
I'll be moving out from my parents soon, and only a few years after that I will be getting my own insurance plan. Because of Obama's health care bill, I know that i'm not going to get fucked in the ass by insurance bills in the coming years. I'm also really happy to learn that even if something else happens to me before i move out my parents won't go broke paying for my broke ass.
I developed asthma later on in life, thought it was just a cough, went to go get the "cough" treated, and it costed me $500 out of pocket since I was 19 and off my parent's health insurance (which is a lot for a waitress who's paying off a car, living on her own, and going to school). Called my mom crying because I had just handed over my month's rent and had to borrow money from friends just to make it.
A year later ACA was passed. My parents decided that, since I was asthmatic and being a server didn't offer any benefits, they would put me on their health plan. All of a sudden I could afford my inhaler. I could afford medicine to treat my allergies. I didn't have to freak out about not affording treatment every time I got sick. I was able to go see a specialist for colon issues that had developed.
So thanks Obama! and a totally not incompetent congress for actually getting something like the ACA passed. because of them (and my parents putting me back on their plan), I can now afford healthcare.
OK a commentary - Here is someone thanking Romney and asking him a question.
I woke up one morning feeling like my testicles were being crushed in a vice. I had been unemployed for a year, and my fiancee of two weeks was making about 19k/yr, so I tried to tough it out for several hours. I tried ibuprofen, soaking in hot water, soaking in cold water, anything I could think of to dull the pain. Eventually I gave up and called my dad and he drove me to the hospital.
I spent another six hours in a semi-lucid state getting x-rays and CT scans, and lying on a gurney in the hallway.
They came back with the diagnosis of a kidney stone. They determined that the stone was positioned right by the opening of the urethra and was just small enough that it should pass on its own. The doc decided that a natural passing would be less disruptive than a stent, so they put me in a room for the night.
I spent the next four days loaded on morphine and some of its sister drugs before the stone finally passed, my fever subsided, and I was cleared to go. Every time the morphine wore off, I would be writhing in agony, counting the minutes until I could get another dose. When I did get another dose, it still hurt like hell, but I didn't care any more.
A week later, I decided I had to face facts and deal with the bill. I called the hospital and was told that I owed $400 because the urologist who checked up on me every day was not completely covered by my plan. The remainder of the bill, $26,000, was covered because I was on the Mass Commonwealth Care emergency care plan. If not for that program, both my and my wife's life would be completely fucked over.
So former Governor Romney, I would like to thank for making that plan available, but I also want to ask why the fuck you don't think anyone else in the country should have access to it?
My dad has had insurance his entire life and lived in Guatemala for most of his life. As a US citizen, I applied for him to become a US resident. During the process he had a heart attack. By the time he became a US resident, he had already gone through triple bypass surgery in Guatemala and still was experiencing severe fatigue. Doctors in Guatemala said that his condition was inoperable.
He came to the US thinking he would at least die with us eventually when Obamacare kicked in. He went to see a doctor who said his condition was quite easy to operate on in the US and that he could get PCIP.
Dad got it, got the operation, and now got a second wind in his life.
If it weren't for Obama and Ted Kennedy pushing for this legislation, my father would be dead.
I don't understand why people want this legislation repelled. My dad pays money to this insurance plan on time every month. If the plan would not exist, he would have continued being sick and eventually had gone to the emergency room when he would inevitably have his second heart attack and probably not been able to afford to pay the bill. This legislation makes sure that at least some money is paid back whereas thousands of Americans just keep going to the emergency room and live miserable lives sick.
I am so grateful to God, to science and to honorable people who did the right thing for having given my father a chance to live longer.
I love you dad!
I'm a diagnosed schizophrenic who is finishing up college this month. Without it I wouldn't be able to volunteer for a couple years in the workforce, get health insurance because of preexisting conditions, or afford health insurance. One out of four of my medications not including doctor visits is $700 a bottle a month. My insurance has tried to thrown me off plenty of times and change my medication to cheaper ones that don't work.
I have lupus, I went from no insurance to being under my parent's plan again.
Obamacare has allowed me to remain on my parent's insurance for a very reasonable monthly rate. Because of this, it has allowed me to remain independent, living on my own as a working member of the middle class, holding no debt, paying my taxes, and looking towards buying a house, all before I turn 25.
It allowed me to have my malfunctioning Gall Bladder removed earlier this year for ~$600 total, including 2 ER visits, 1 Nuclear Medicine study, numerous X-Rays, and the day surgery itself, all of which I can pay for under my own power.
And yet, the vast majority of my friends and family remain staunchly entrenched in Republican territory, with little chance to change their mind.
Thank you President Obama, members of Congress & the Senate, the SCOTUS, and others that made this happen, and make the lives of people in this nation better because of it.
My grandparents strongly oppose it. It's sad because their 23-year-old granddaughter is alive because being under her parent's insurance allowed her to learn she had cancer (and get treated).
My girlfriend is about to hit her 5 year mark of being cancer free from Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Because of the affordable care act she now doesn't have to worry about not getting a job or insurance due to her "preexisting condition".
Received our refund check in the mail last month. Cost of my contribution to my health insurance plan down $100 per month. My daughter's pre-existing condition is now covered - she's fine but it gives us huge peace of mind. If/when I am laid off, I'll have more of an option to become an entrepreneur. The donut hole in my Mom's prescription coverage has been filled - she's 77 - now she can afford her medicine. Our family had already taken advantage of free preventive care.
In all it's changed a lot.
I'm 25 and have a chronic illness that is quite debilitating. Went undiagnosed for over a year until a trip to the incredible Mayo Clinic ($$$).
Was diagnosed, therefore am receiving proper treatment.
Wouldn't have been possible without being under my parents' insurance. Can't afford my own.
I'm 33, October of 2010 I got into the pre-existing conditions pool, had double spinal fusion surgery last August, just finished one year of rehab, pain is much better now, have some numbness in one leg, but it's an ok trade off for me. It still took me a year to get the surgery, even with 6 out of 6 doctors saying it was the only option, the only one that didn't was the one that worked for the insurance company, who never saw me. Once we got a hold of the person in charge of Obama Care for our state, things moved much faster and she arranged for me to get an opinion from a University Doctor, who of course said surgery was the only option. It still cost me $10,000 that year, and that's ok, because that was reachable, before Obama Care help was impossible. So it's great that we have this now, but there are still a lot of things that need to be fixed, like insurance companies still making the calls over 6 doctors.
I have had a condition known as Severe Hemophilia A since birth and in order to treat myself I have to take a medicine via injection every other day.
This medicine is quite costly and in my 20 years on this earth I have had to switch my insurance provider several times because I had reached their "lifetime cap" in funds for my medicine. Normally it would take less than 5 years to reach that amount. With OBAMACARE I no longer have to worry about losing my insurance provider, the "lifetime cap" has been lifted, and because of that I have confidence that I can enter the adult world with the medicine I need to survive...
If only I didn't have to worry that someone might take that privilege away from me...
The thread goes on and on. I think you get the idea, but if you want to read more, go
here. And don't be afraid to add your own comments as to why ObamaCare helped you.