It looks like President Trump and the Republican Party are going to repeal Obamacare, and it sounds like they don’t have anything to replace it. But let’s hear what some people who will actually be affected have to say about it.
What do you think?
1. My son was diagnosed with stage 4 rhabdomyosarcoma. His cancer treatment so far has included 7 different chemotherapy drugs, 25 days of radiation, 3 surgeries, Cat scans, Pet scans, MRI.
If Obamacare is repealed, then my son, at the wise old age of 4, will no longer be eligible for health insurance at all, much less affordable healthcare.
I do think that there is plenty wrong with the ACA. I hope those against the ACA never find themselves where my family has found ourselves. Without those provisions, we would have run out of coverage already, potentially ending my sons treatment and probably his life.
I think as long as profits are the primary concern for insurance companies, healthcare providers, and pharmaceutical manufacturers, we will never move beyond our current crisis in healthcare.
dogsdawgs
2. As someone diagnosed at the age of 17 with type 1 Diabetes, the preexisting condition applies to my multiple insulin pens and supplies. Paying for insulin without the coverage will be upwards of $600 dollars every month; it may force me to decide between attending college or staying alive.
Sousaphone_Larry
3. It will help as for my premiums going down, but it’s going to screw a lot of people who don’t deserve it. I’m sure I’m in the minority, but I’m alright with the “for the greater good” mindset as long as I can feed, shelter, and clothe my family.
smp4111
4. I was talking to my general practitioner the other day. She told me the ACA was a pain for her and her staff. She had a lot more paperwork to fill out and was compensated less then the insurance companies paid.
BUT she said something else that really made me think. (continued…)
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She said that she saw many people in her office that it was clear they had physical problems but they could not afford to attend to in the past. Diabetes, heart disease, amputations, chronic illnesses, and it was only because of the ACA that they were able to get treated. She was very much against it’s repeal without replacement because she had seen the benefit provided to people who didn’t have insurance before.
LuvinMclovin
5. For me, the issue with the ACA was that it was medical insurance for all, not affordable healthcare for all. I honestly had my rates significantly increased and my coverage decrease. I am all for replacing it with something that provides healthcare without the overhead of billion dollar insurance industries.
The issue at large is not healthcare, it’s insurance. If we are going to socialize medical care in America, then medical insurance and the lawsuits around medical care all have to be jettisoned. Allowing businesses to write the ACA laws was a mistake, they wrote them to ensure business and profits not to provide better care. The law is worse for people and doctors but better for businesses.
Let’s fix it and get medical care for all, and be done with corrupted billion dollar industries siphoning money out of healthcare like parasites.
FuriouS76
6. I will become uninsurable again. I have a genetic disorder that causes my joints to pop out of socket. Because there is no “cure” they refuse to insure me.
I am aware Trump has said that they will keep some things including the pre-existing clause. Here’s the thing, I’ll believe it when I see it. Our Government has been known to promise things and not deliver.
And to those certain people who don’t believe I have any value to this world: No, I am not going to just “die already” because my body is not 100% and I’m a drain on society.
Princess-beyonce
7. I’m under 26 and have a chronic condition. Under ACA I can stay on my parents insurance. When it gets taken away I will probably not be able to afford to pay for my healthcare, and I am scared the death.
JumpingTheMoon
8. You might hate me for saying this, but I work for an insurance company. There are a couple of things I think people should understand. We don’t want to charge you any more than is necessary. (continued…)
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It’s very easy to demonize your insurance company as some faceless greedy jerk charging astronomical prices unnecessarily, but insurance underwriters are real people and we see you struggling to get by with these ridiculous premiums every day.
The problem is that insurance companies are not endless buckets of money that could just pay for everything and be fine. They have to set prices at a number that allows them to stay in business. Most of them are not overcharging you. The fact that they pay for so much is what contributes to the ridiculous prices.
When we assess the likelihood that we’ll pay out, how much those payouts will be, and how frequently, math tells us we have to charge a certain amount to be profitable. We see it all the time where someone’s premium is like $2,000/month because they have conditions and we know there’s no way they can afford that, but we cannot help them. It’s either we charge that price or we just don’t cover them because their risk is too high.
This is a problem that we cannot solve on our own. We need regulation on the prices of medical procedures and care. We need a system that doesn’t allow hospitals to place extra cost on the insured and waive costs for the uninsured, as this further raises insurers costs.
YouDontMeanLITERALLY
9. I’m going to be uninsured. My medications will cost about $1000 a month. I’m a college student, I can’t afford this.
lawyerchick
10. My girlfriend had insurance through the ACA. It’s nice because she didn’t have any before, but every year her plan has been cancelled and every year she had to get a new one that was much worse for more money. Each time they cover less and less while charging more. As it stands the ACA is becoming useless to her while costing her more money she doesn’t have, something has to change.
Chris11246
11. In terms of cost and coverage, the Affordable Care Act is awful for me. I am for the idea of replacing it with something better. However, I am in favor of moving towards universal health care, which Trump will never do.
jurassicthings
12. I make a mid-to-lower middle class income. Luckily my spouse is very healthy and my two children under the age of 5 are healthy as well. Unfortunately I play almost 18% of my total annual income in premiums for a subpar Silver Insurance plan.
The ACA should be able to help me out right? You would think so. (continued…)
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The ACA dictates that anyone who’s pays over 8% of there annual salary in health care premium qualifies for a subsidy. Wahoo! I’m taken care of! Right? Wrong. The fine print indicates that the 8% of your annual income relates only to the employee’s premium.
My annual personal premium is less than 8% of my annual income, but when I add my wife and kids it totals to 18%. This loophole is known as “The Family glitch” and was deliberately put in place to prevent a mass exodus from employer plans to the government provided plans.
I’m not saying that the ACA hasn’t benefited many who were previously uninsurable/couldn’t afforded healthcare due to income. But, it has done nothing to help out the middle class, as it allows the insurance industry put it on the middle class to pick up the slack.
lekyaquitard
13. Not sure. Under the ACA my insurance premiums went from $70 every two weeks to $420 every two weeks. It has become far from affordable, but we were mandated to have it under penalty of fine.
headless_gardener
14. ACA is flawed, no doubt, but I hope whatever they are planning on replacing it with is reasonable, because if they are taking it away entirely it could literally be a death sentence for people like me.
Something to consider. Healthcare should not be a luxury. Those with disabilities/health issues should not be accused of being “leeches” or “moochers” when we are working to the best of our capacity and just want affordable health care so we dont yknow die.
JumpingTheMoon
15. One thing the ACA did was legislate a minimum level of coverage for insurance. Previously, there were many plans that were very cheap but didn’t cover very much. The problem with plans like these is that the beneficiaries are not savvy enough to know what they are getting and are just happy to be “insured.”
That is a false sense of security because when they get sick, they may have to pay over $10,000 (could be as much as half a million for something like cancer). For most people buying these plans that would probably bankrupt them.
The ACA eliminated these plans. So for your $900 a month, if you get cancer, the most you will have to pay is ~$6,000 (compared to an unlimited amount).
mattyice
Keep reading on the next page!
16. Assuming the pre-existing condition part of Obamacare goes away both myself and my wife could be a world of hurt. Myself especially. I had cancer and I’m sure the insurance companies will either deny coverage or raise my premium to something beyond what I have been paying. But hey that’s my fault, right?
Blood_Warrior
17. My son is a transplant recipient with pre-existing conditions and extremely high-cost ongoing medical needs. The return of lifetime caps, denial of coverage based on pre-existing conditions, or the inability for him to stay on my insurance would leave him uninsured…and there’s no way I can afford his medical needs on my own. Repealing the ACA is basically a death sentence for my child.
Seeking_Starlight
18. Im gonna end up with questionable coverage for birth control (I can’t take the regular pill, so my options are more expensive). I also have what might be considered pre-existing conditions that may be an issue if my insurance coverage ever lapses.
For example, I have the beginnings of arthritis in my knees. I will probably need a knee replacement later in life. Will I have to pay out of pocket for that if my coverage ever lapses?
SenseiKrystal
19. I was born with a major heart defect that has required 3 open heart surgeries and will require 2 to 3 more if I live to be in my 50s to 60s. If the affordable care act is repealed I may not live to be 40. I am 33 currently.
The affordable care act is what saved my life last year by allowing me to have insurance that covered my defect without a prolonged waiting period. It is something I have had to have monitored my entire life and will never go away. It is scary to think I may die because I won’t have insurance that covers my defect that I was born with.
asoiaf_fan
20. My friend was diagnosed with cancer while she was between jobs. I’m worried that they will make it so she can’t be insured anymore.
randomsilliness
21. What I think a lot of people don’t realize is that without insurance, hospitals eat the cost of the uninsured. And pass that along to those who have insurance anyway. (continued…)
Keep reading on the next page!
With higher bills. Your insurance gets this, pays the portion they will pay, increases costs next year. And then you pay the remainder in your out of pocket expenses.
Also. Are they going to take away the meaningful use requirement of doctors.
Right now, if a doctor doesn’t fix the issue the first visit, and you keep returning for the same issue, they hold the doctors accountable and don’t pay them. This makes it so some doctors have to take more time and pay attention to the issues at hand rather than rush you out and collect their doctor fee.
randomsilliness
22. My wife is a stage 4 cancer survivor which counts as a preexisting condition. Thanks to an unwanted illness when she was 12 years old, we basically can’t afford health insurance without the ACA. She only has one kidney which limits the amount of medications or treatments she takes, which is fine right now seeing that she is only taking birth control.
If she is ever put on more then 3 or 4 medications though her doctors prefer to run tests to make sure her kidney is functioning properly. While it is very rare for her ever take that much medication, it is always possible.
Knowing we are going to probably lose all benefits from the ACA means it’s basically impossible to find reasonable insurance. If I don’t qualify for insurance through my work place at any point in time our premium goes from about 260 a month to almost 800 a month. Which is just insane because she had cancer at 12 years old and has been cancer free for over 15 years with almost zero chance of a relapse.
okiimune
23. I had cancer when I was 18. I’m turning 26 in October. Not sure if I’ll even be able to find a plan that will cover me by then. Even if I do, it’s going to be extremely expensive as I also take 8 medications each day (severe depression and anxiety).
The positive side of my impending doom was a conversation I had about this with my father, who is an ardent Trump supporter. It never occurred to him that someone as hard-working and high-achieving as me (in my second year of medical school) would struggle with paying for health insurance.
It was also a shock that someone so close to him, who he’s helplessly watched struggle with cancer and depression/suicidality, could be in a position of even greater helplessness if I can’t afford the treatment that keeps me functioning and somewhat healthy.
sirennatum