The GOP: Bankrupting and Killing People Who Get Sick

I have an ACA (Obamacare) plan, which I pay for out of pocket without a subsidy. Prior to that, either my husband or I bought policies on the individual insurance market for about 5–10 years — navigating the preexisting condition world and, for me, having a plan that cost MORE than my ACA plan costs me now despite not having any maternity coverage.

I also work in medical billing/consulting, which means that my job is, literally, to deal with hundreds (thousands?) of patients’ health insurance plans on a daily basis. I review policies and benefits, oversee how insurance processes people’s bills, and help resolve problems when they arise. I first started in this line of work when I was 18, and after a brief break for grad school, returned to it. I am very good at my job, and I understand health insurance *extremely* well.

Please believe me when I say that the ACA system is better — in terms of actually providing decent, reliable coverage for people — than it ever was before. I know this from personal and professional experience, spanning almost 20 years.

In the last few years I have talked to scores of people who were previously un- or under-insured who now have ACA coverage, who could finally get treated for longstanding illnesses and injuries, and who can go on with their normal, productive lives without constant pain or the fear going bankrupt due to unpaid medical bills.

For myself? I no longer get denied coverage due to preexisting knee pain (yes, that really happened), and if I did want to have a baby, it would be covered.

The system is better now than it was before. What we need to do is work to make it better, not tear it all down.

Yes, I know that premiums are rising and deductibles are high. But that is the case for insurance plans *across the board* these days, not just the ACA. And that is the kind of thing that lawmakers could be working to improve in the ACA by tweaking it. Instead, they want to rip coverage away from 20 million people altogether.

Taking this coverage away will harm people. It will bankrupt people. It will kill people. Doing this is so cruel, ignorant, and shortsighted that it is taking my breath away.

Personally, I will be okay — I know how to navigate the system and I do have other, albeit more expensive, options. But do not be mistaken, and please take me seriously as someone who knows how this system works.

Taking away Obamacare will bankrupt and kill people.

(Originally published on Facebook, 1/12/17)

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