Affordable Care Act

There is a lot not to like about the Affordable Care Act. As an advocate of single-payer there is no reason for me to rehash them all here. But I would like to share a personal success story of the bill.

A few months ago my wife began having severe issues. I don't know what her exact diagnosis was called (mainly because it was made throughout multiple ER visits), but it was certain that she needed some form of uterine surgery.

My wife did not have insurance. This is not because she did not want to carry insurance. It was because, while her employer provided insurance, they did not offer it to part time employees. Which she was. Even though she worked 30+ and many times forty hours per week. and of course no private insurer would touch her because now she had the dreaded preexisting condition.

The first doctor she went two charged her $150 to tell her that she needed a hysterectomy but that he would not perform it because, no insurance. A second doctor referred her to the health department. She called the health department. They flatly refused to see her.

Now I'm a pretty savvy person on things but I am not afraid to admit I was pretty ignorant on many aspects of the ACA. But I remembered there was something available for people with preexisting conditions. I wasn't sure if it we were eligible or if it started in 2014 or what, but I found the website and we made some calls.

A few days later a representative came to our house. We did some paperwork and two weeks later my wife was insured. Then things started falling into place. She got full screenings at Forsyth Medical Center for Women and this morning had a successful ablation surgery and is recovering fine at home.

Again, the bill is not perfect. We were lucky enough to be able to afford the $300 monthly premiums. We were lucky that we had Internet access and were able to find out about the plan. And so I will continue to fight hard for a single-payer system. But the bill does have some features that can ease suffering, and that's a wonderful thing.

If there is anyone out there in a similar situation, you can check out the North Carolina Preexisting Plan Federal Option here: http://nchirp.org/federaloption/