On Monday, the Indiana Republican Party asked fans to share their Obamacare “horror stories.” More than 7,300 comments later, it is safe to say this stunt didn’t go as planned. In fact, they are lucky pre-existing conditions are still protected because these burns are going to require long-term treatment. Here’s the original post that kicked off the tsunami of Affordable Care Act success stories:
Names of respondents are not included, but here are a sampling of the massive number of positive stories about the Affordable Care Act and the very real impact the law had on people’s lives.
I lost a job because of Obamacare . As a volunteer physician and medical director of a free clinic in Crown Point, my job became unnecessary when the patients who had previously been uninsured were able to obtain coverage.
Fortunately, if the GOP gets its way, there will be thousands, maybe millions of Hoosiers who will be forced back into charity care (if they are lucky enough to find any). And maybe I'll be able to spend my free hours again providing the best care I can given the tremendous limitations of a free clinic.
My horror story is that my child got cancer and Obamacare made it possible for her to go into adulthood without facing lifetime caps and we were able to focus on caring for her instead of living in fear of having to choose between keeping our house or keeping our child alive.
Thanks to the miserable Affordable Care Act, my eight year old daughter cannot be denied coverage due to her preexisiting cardiac condition for which she had open heart surgery as a newborn. We were really hoping the American healthcare system would cripple her with debt for the rest of her life, but that son of a b**** Obama, just had to get his hands on it and fix it.
My premiums rose consistently, and eventually I had to make adjustments to my coverage every 3-6 months in order to be able to afford health insurance in my twenties, but that was prior to the ACA. I was self-employed in Bartholomew County, purchased insurance from companies directly and had no pre-existing conditions (because that was a thing back in those days). My coverage prior to the ACA went from comprehensive to catastrophic in a span of 5 years.
No, the ACA isn't perfect, and it needs to be improved, but the system that existed before the ACA was horrible. This was especially true for small businesses and the working poor. We haven't forgotten, and neither should you. Medicaid expansion (a.k.a. HIP 2.0) and funding are the keys to allowing Hoosiers to stay employed and receive health care that they need.
I think it's time for a single-payer (universal) system. Medicaid for all so that we can each contribute our best selves to making Indiana a better place to work and live.
Before the ACA, I would have been denied coverage of my hubby and I were to ever switch jobs due to my brain tumor, a pre existing condition. Our 14 year old daughter would have been denied coverage due to her heart condition, known as a sub aortic stenosis. So the ACA has helped us tremendously, as it has many millions of people. I know there are pieces that need worked on, but as a law abiding, tax paying, civilly obedient, law abiding American citizen, I don't think myself or my children should be denied coverage. Let's work together to make the ACA better.
I was able to have a baby! I bought insurance on the exchange, paid my premiums and copays, and had a beautiful baby even though my spouse's employer didn't offer coverage. Prior to ACA, private insurance for pregnant people was both difficult to get (pregnancy was a preexisting condition, remember!) and so expensive that it would drive many families to financial ruin and/or Medicaid.
My fiancee contracted undetected viral pneumonia that led to a collapsed lung and emergency surgery. She was in recovery for over a week before discharge. Without Obamacare, she would have died. Instead, we are getting married later this month. Thanks, Obama!
My premiums went up, but it probably paid for a mammogram, physical, surgery for a child whose family was below the poverty line, heart medication for an elderly person, or some other of the 10,000 reasons people every day need coverage in this country - and so I really don't mind.
I'm reading this thread and noticing that people aren't dying from pre-existing conditions, they get to keep their homes, and spend more time with their family and friends. #thehorror
Horror Story!
M.D. here. My patients used to have all kinds of crazy "swiss cheese" insurance plans that gave the illusion of coverage without really covering things. This is often a tragedy for people when they became ill.
Obamacare requires insurance plans to actually cover you when you get sick. So, my patients have coverage. I've seen fewer people driven into bankruptcy by illness, and I have a better chance of getting paid for the work that I do.
My wife had a stroke in childbirth. On the day our daughter was born I was told my wife would die. She didn't, but as her medical bills approached her $2 million lifetime cap and it looked like I'd end up selling my house to cover medical bills, ObamaCare kicked in. She's alive today, we still own our home, and we thank President Barack Obama and the Democrats and Republicans who voted for that bill for my wife's life. Oh right... Republicans didn't vote for the bill. What was your question again?
My pre-existing condition meant that until the ACA, I suffered for two years post job-loss without coverage. I was earning a good living on contract work, but insurance agents would literally hang up on me. The ACA changed that. Without it, I doubt I would be alive to write this.
Indiana Republicans really should’ve known better. Recent polling shows the Affordable Care Act’s popularity is at an all-time high, favored by most Americans. And this isn’t the first time a Republican has asked for Obamacare horror stories. In 2015, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-05) pulled a similar stunt and faced a huge pushback from constituents in a story that went viral nationwide.
For more community discussion, see click here to join vulcangrrl’s diary on the same topic.