DID THE ACA HELP YOU GET HEALTH INSURANCE

Were You Insured Before The ACA?

In my own experience, I’ve met only a few people that were not insured before the ACA came into being. It seems most people were either insured through their employer’s group plan or they had an individual policy. For those that weren’t insured before the ACA it looks like A) they worked somewhere that didn’t offer benefits and B) they couldn’t afford an individual policy. Yes, the ACA made individual policies more expensive. In fact, for many people if it weren’t for the tax credit, an individual policy would be further out of reach. So, the ACA may not have helped people directly buy for those that it did the impact was huge.

Glad I Was There.

I’ve seen a kind of nasty Catch-22 played out several times. A young single mom takes it upon herself to work multiple jobs to raise her family. But because she took that second (or third) job her income is high enough that she no longer qualifies for assistance. She could have done like most and decided not to work all of those extra hours and keep the food stamps and Medicaid. Because now, that second and third job don’t quite make up for what she lost in assistance and her standard of living actually has gone down. But, she did it anyway.

Sacrifices Made.

A lot of times that means having to do without insurance for herself. That means having to put off those surgeries she knows she needs. Putting off going to the dentist until times get better. Having to do without plenty of other things because she and others like her have chosen to do what they thought was right. Not what got them the most assistance but what they thought was the example they wanted to be for their kids.

Is the ACA perfect? No.

But for those like the single mom in the example above. I’m glad it was there and I’m glad I was able to help.