I’ve told parts of this story before so I’ll mostly skip over the narrative about the why and the how, but since 2005 and for various reasons including a punitively large premium increase, a preexisting condition (back injury) and cash-flow issues due to the Great Recession, I’ve been an unintentional member of the often discussed 30 million uninsured Americans.
For nearly ten years, I’ve been one serious injury or one serious illness away from financial ruin.
It’s not that I didn’t want to be covered. I was simply incapable of being covered. Not long after dropping my small business plan in 2005 due to an egregious rate hike, I was riding my bike through a small town near my house when a group of teenagers in a beat-up hatchback cut me off in traffic. My bike and my body t-boned into the side of the car as it made a sudden, screeching right turn. The impact smashed one of my vertebrae, but fortunately the driver’s auto insurance covered the ER visit and the MRI. Injury aside, I was very lucky in that regard. If I had crashed on my own accord, I would’ve been screwed.
Suffice to say, acquiring health insurance after the accident was impossible, especially since I refused to give up cycling.
But as of April 1, and along with six million others (so far), I’ll be covered by an affordable, comprehensive health insurance plan. After deliberating for several months over which plan to choose, I finally pulled the trigger and signed up for a Kaiser-Permanente plan through the Hawaii Health Connector (the Hawaii exchange). It’s a “Silver I” plan with a relatively inexpensive $197 monthly premium, along with a $1000 deductible, $15 generic drugs (no deductible), free wellness checkups and so forth. And, naturally, no lifetime or annual limits on coverage. (Incidentally and for the edification of any tea party trolls, no, I didn’t qualify for subsidies. Oh, and Kaiser-Permanente isn’t a “government-run” insurer. Sorry!)
The most refreshing aspect of my uneventful 30-minute enrollment process was the total lack of any questions relating to my medical history. Without preexisting conditions as a factor in receiving coverage, medical histories are irrelevant now. They simply don’t matter. If you pay the premiums, you’re covered.
Had it not been for the ACA I wouldn’t be insured. Frankly, will my voting choices be guided in part by a desire to remain insured? You’re damn right they will. And anyone who tries to repeal the law will hear from me in this space and in the voting booth — now more than ever. I refuse to allow any tea party gomer deep in the throes of flaming Obama Derangement Syndrome to take away my coverage. I suspect I’m not the only one.
Maybe that was a major political consideration for the Democrats and the Obama administration to pass the law, maybe not. One way or another, a long-term side-effect of the ACA is that voters with Obamacare coverage will vigorously campaign against anyone who tries to take it away. In this regard, not unlike Medicare and Social Security, it won’t be long before center-right Republicans wise up and support the ongoing existence of (and, hopefully, improvements to) the ACA. In the process, the nickname “Obamacare” will become one of affection rather than ridicule.
Oh, and speaking of tea party gomers, there’s this wingnut… READ MORE