Listen to part of this man’s story. And think about whether Obamacare is the demon depicted by the right. Think about the fates of those who simply cannot afford insurance or who are suffering from pre-existing conditions that lock them away from any insurance at all.
I paid out of pocket for COBRA every month I could after I lost my job. I was happy to. It was the continuation of services that kept us healthy and alive during my ten-year tenure at my previous employer.
It was only when the eligibility period ran out that I was finally forced to go without.
Fortunately, I live in a place where there is a safety net. I live in Massachusetts. In 2006, our governor signed a health care insurance revision bill into law. The law mandates that Mass residents can obtain a minimum level of healthcare insurance coverage, and makes sure that you can get free health care insurance if you earn less than 150 percent of the federal poverty level.
That governor was Mitt Romney, and the law I’m referring to is colloquially known as “RomneyCare.” It’s also been widely described as inspiring large parts of the Affordable Care Act.
The bottom line is that the vast majority of the residents of Massachusetts – an estimated 98 percent – have some sort of health care coverage, even if it’s the bare minimum needed to cover catastrophic events like hospitalization. Thanks to RomneyCare.
It was this insurance that I was able to get. I’m sorry to admit that those Federal poverty guidelines pertain to me, so I got the free coverage. Quite frankly, the economy and the publishing industry have not been kind to me since losing my last full-time job.
Without RomneyCare, I probably would have put off getting to the doctor or the hospital until I’d been much worse. And I’d be footing the bill for that ten day hospital stay. For the surgery, and the anesthesia. For each and every pill I took, every bandage I used, every linen that needed to be washed. For the bags of antibiotic administered intravenously. For the nurses, doctors and technicians who treated me every day. For the months of followup treatment I’ve required – a month and a half of IV antibiotics, more pills, daily visits to a wound care treatment facility for hyperbaric oxygen treatment, a visiting nurse who comes once a week to check on my progress, the specialized bandages and medicines I must use to keep infections at bay.
(via The Loop)
