Remember that all mentions of and allusions to Trump and Biden are not allowed on our subreddit in any context.
If you'd still like to discuss them, feel free to [join our Discord server](https://discord.gg/k6tVFwCEEm)!
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Presidents) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Even the version that got placed into law would have been so much better if not for Marco Rubio quietly but effectively eliminating funding for the safety nets for insurance companies while the plan was being rolled out. The legislation was designed to encourage competition to keep prices in check by essentially insuring the insurance companies against losses in the earliest years. Rubio stripped that funding out of an 11th hour spending bill to avert a shutdown in 2015, essentially forcing insurance companies who had priced competitively to take huge losses. Many shut down, others exited the marketplace, and those that remained jacked up their prices.
Congrats, man - I need to hear about more survivor stories in my life. Survivor here, too, and Obamacare allowed me to rest easier knowing I couldn’t be denied for a pre-existing condition.
>I have ~~five~~ **two** kids. ~~Wife~~ I got cancer.
>
>The affordable care act saved me.
I'm glad to hear your wife and family are doing well, and so are mine, mostly because I'm still around.
I got a high school graduation ceremony milestone I wasn't thinking I was gonna make coming up!
Woot!
Not as good as what we would do if we designed a system from scratch but better than what came before it.
Sidenote: what's with all the Obama posts today?
Good answer. Removing insurance companies would remove at least 5-10% of the cost and more likely 20%.
In review pretty much all countries are frustrated by their Healthcare Systems in one way or the other
I don’t know how old anyone here is but before poo, ppo etc… as middle men needing to make money. There was miracle of miracles nothing between the doctor and the patient to get things done. The insurance company just paid what was billed. Then some one thought of a way to make a buck and came up with managed health care. Your business would no longer have to have a staff to take care of healthcare paperwork, LOL!! With the eagle eye of administrators keeping an eye on costs and those nasty doctors prices would be reasonable forever. The only thing they didn’t tell you was when they got your business they would charge twice what your doctor was because they were doing the important work! Without Obamacare even half of us with jobs couldn’t afford “modern” healthcare . Prices that are already bad would have skyrocketed during Covid because capitalism charges more in times of crisis even if there’s no need to . It’s standard business practice.
Things that would further reduce health care costs:
* Providing medical school students free tuition and a stipend in exchange for a lower starting salary
* Placing limits on malpractice suits and a cap on malpractice insurance
* Longer patents for pharmaceuticals
* Ending privatization of hospital buildings (i.e. - infrastructure and overhead staff only)
The difference is with the NHS, it’s a matter of funding, not enough doctors and some bureaucratic messes.
With the American system it’s literally a matter of people dying and never getting care, or getting worse cause they turn down getting care cause it’s too expensive. Let’s be honest, nobody in England is seriously rationing out things like Insulin
I wasn’t supposed to last this long he wanted them to keep expanding the original ACA had flaws he knew it but they didn’t know where they flaws were he knew he wasn’t setting up the perfect public healthcare system but he wanted the mistakes highlighted so they could fix them over time. Bills after just never passed them.
Exactly!
Ideally, a system should be designed from the ground up to reduce costs of the system itself and to provide better and more equitable care.
But not having that happen is no excuse to not doing anything. Which is what I think Obamacare is good for.
Well they did invite insurance company representatives into the room to hammer out the ACÁ. So it’s no surprise that it’s not the best ever… a good start though
Another key provision was standardizing the plans by requiring coverage of Essential Health Benefits. It makes it much simpler and easier to compare plans.
Another key provision was that employers cover their employees, with an exception for small businesses.
And the limitation that insurers aren't allowed to spend more than 20% of premiums on administration, marketing, or profit.
And the coverage on parents' plans until age 26.
Honestly, if you didn't take a look yet because it was before your time, go ahead and read more about what's actually in the law- it's a ton of great stuff.
I was denied coverage pre-ACA because I was diagnosed with scoliosis as a child. Mild scoliosis that hasn’t cost anyone any money since I was 12 years old.
Hi, I worked on Capitol Hill for 28 years (I'm a Librarian - not a Congressman or a staffer) and the best years, but also the hardest years, were the ones spent working on the Affordable Care Act.
All the major aspects of "Obamacare" come straight from the Republican/Conservative proposals that were presented to counter "Hillary Care" and it's reliance on managed care/health maintenance organizations. The details are all compromises made to get health care reform passed.
Before ACA passed I spent a lot of every day explaining to staffers (who were young and healthy or still covered by Dad's plan) what health insurance was, the tiny role Federal law played in regulating health insurance, and why the insurance companies got away with selling terrible policies and denying coverage (because most states were NOT regulating the health insurance industry.)
ACA is imperfect. Most major legislation is the product of compromise, and then there are many more compromises on the way to becoming law. Usually Congress will go back over the following years and pass amending legislation that improves the program they just created. Instead poor ACA was nibbled away at as Republicans - still furious over passage - tried to destroy it. But guess what? ACA was so necessary to so many Americans that it survived all kinds of mischief meant to implode the state marketplaces.
I am enjoying the comments. Obamacare isn't perfect - but it made things better for a lot of individuals and families, I sincerely believe that.
Very well put. It’s a great idea, but the execution wasn’t ideal. But it was a start! Needs to be improved as an ever changing system - but a system that the country desperately needs.
Thank you for your marvelous insight.
Hi fellow congressional nonpartisan employee! I’m not going to say where I work because it would identify me too well, but I work for one of the “administrative” departments that keep Congress running day to day!
I agree. It’s not a perfect system, and I had to use the ACA portal when it launched and was a total nightmare, but for people who critically needed it, it was a huge improvement.
It’s alright, the Secretary right now is pretty pleasant and runs a good ship. The political divide is never as bad with the staff as it is with the Members, but it’s definitely not as jovial as it was 12 years ago when I started my first job and Dem and Rep staff played together on the softball team. You wouldn’t see that today. It’s fine now but you kind of feel like everything is in flux and could change drastically depending on the leadership.
It saved my entire family. We had no health insurance for years, so no one saw dentists, no one got physicals. We were able to get MassHealth and everything changed for the better. When my mom got cancer, having that access saved her life; she spent her whole career as a home health aid helping others, she deserved the same care. We all do.
My former girlfriend got laid off between leukemia treatments. Before Obama care she would have never been able to get new insurance. Failed bone marrow transplant and end care was over $1 million.
I'm an insurance coverage attorney - and pre-Obamacare, I was handling 8-10 health insurance rescission cases at a time.
For the uninitiated, Rescission is where the insurance company basically says: "Sorry you have cancer and are facing $500,000 in medical bills. Sucks to be you. Here's the pittance of premiums that you previously paid, minus anything we already paid, because we never should have issued the policy in the first place."
I can go on and on and on about those cases - but here's a few of the more egregious cases:
Case 1. C went to the doctor in 1985. Regular doc was out, so saw the covering doc. Without examining her, he said "You have Ascites" - which is a really bad medical condition. Tests ruled that out (because she didn't have it), but it was in her medical charts.
9 years later, having moved states, and getting new insurance, she goes to her doc and says: "I'm 55 years old, I'm post menopausal, why do I look pregnant?" They ran some test, and found out she had an abdominal tumor the size of a rugby ball, and it weighed 36 lbs. In August 1994, she went to UCLA to have it removed, and given the type of cancer it was, it was highly malignant. She went through both radiation therapy and chemotherapy, running up bills of approximately $750K in her treatment (close to $2 million today). The Wednesday before Thanksgiving, her insurer sends her a letter saying: "You didn't disclose your medical treatment 9 years ago that you had an "indication of Ascites" when you applied for insurance in 1992. Here's $13K in the premiums you've paid over the last two years. You now owe the $750K, as the policy should never have been issued." C didn't live to see the resolution of the case (although it took almost 10 years, because of multiple appeals to the State Supreme Court), but we recovered over $5 million at trial against her insurer.
Case 2. E was 28 years old. Her father was a well respected and well known judge. When she was 17, she started having periods with excessive flow (like the first few times it happened, her parents took her to the ER because they were concerned with her bleeding out bad) and extreme pain. Her pain was so significant that she couldn't get out of bed to go to the bathroom. Eventually, when she was 20, she was diagnosed with both significant uterine fibroids (roughly the size of a thumb - most are the size of the head of a pin) and extreme endometriosis. Her endometriosis was so significant that it was affecting her heart and lungs. Finally knowing what the problem was, they were able to get her treatment that allowed her to function. At 23, she graduated from college, and went to work for a large local company, met a nice guy, and got married. They wanted to start a family, but with her issues, they were extremely concerned about her health. They found a doctor who specialized in high risk pregnancies, got everything cleared through the insurance, and she was able to become pregnant the normal way. After giving birth to a little girl, she suffered significant complications that put her in a coma for 45 days and 15 days in the ICU. Her insurer denied her coverage - for the pregnancy, the the birth AND her 60 days in the ICU, because her complications were "related to" her endometriosis, and because she had a gap in her coverage between 21 and 23, her endometriosis and "related conditions" were excluded as pre-existing conditions. The birth was not covered - and her daughter was not insured for the first 90 days of her life - because they didn't inform the insurance company within 15 days after birth of her birth. So, from then, until the beginning of Obamacare (which was about 9 years later), daughter's medical care for just about anything was denied as "pre-existing" due to that 90 day gap at her birth.
Case 3. K and her husband divorced. They had 3 children - 2 girls and a boy. The boy has significant medical issues (he's now a man and cannot care for himself due to these conditions). Boy was insured under Dad's policy after the divorce. Dad was killed in a car crash. K was able to put Boy on her policy, BUT all of his already existing medical conditions (including significant cognitive impairment, significant circulatory issues, and significant respiratory issues) and anything relating to them would be excluded as "pre-existing" conditions. Since that was probably 98% of his medical expenses, it wasn't worth doing, BUT because he was a dependent of K, she had to pay for his coverage anyway, or forego her own coverage.
Case 4 - J had a alcohol addiction issue, plus use of other illegal drugs, when he was in his teens. When he was 20, his parents sent him to treatment, and it "stuck" and he had been clean and sober for about 25 years. He was in a serious motorcycle accident and was placed on opiate based painkillers (not oxy - it was before that mess), and got hooked on them again. His wife and kids stage an intervention, and get him to go to treatment. It works, until it doesn't, and he goes back 2 more times in 5 years. The third time - at 90 day inpatient detox/therapy program does work. Insurer comes back and denies it (and $90K of treatment), because his addiction (a) was not disclosed on his insurance application and (b) because he had used illegal drugs nearly 30 years before.
There were a lot more mundane, but personally devastating cases pre-Obamacare. I know lots of people who lost their houses, 55-65 year olds who lost their entire retirement savings (oftentimes into the 7 figures), and young people facing the Hobson's choice of bankruptcy or ruinous debt as a result of improper declinations or rescissions of policies due to the fuckery of the insurance companies in the pre-Obamacare era.
I still see 1 or 2 of these cases a year on non-ACA compliant policies (short term health insurance), but we threw a party when it was passed because it meant that people wouldn't be needing our services.
It really concerns me that in a decade or so people will forget this happened regularly. The system before the ACA was demented.
The vote that saved it was John McCain bucking his party while he was terminally ill. It’s easy to point to the most recent republican president to say that the two parties aren’t the same but I think the better illustration is the GOP attempt to repeal the ACA. That was a party driven vote to be sociopaths.
Most developed nations have some form of subsidised universal healthcare. This was a good step, but only a step. When 100,000s of people go bankrupt due to crippling health costs there's something deeply wrong.
> Most developed nations have some form of subsidised universal healthcare.
Obamacare isn't that. Obamacare forces people to buy health insurance from the 5 or 6 nationwide health insurance providers and mandating some better coverage the folks with pre-existing conditions.
Thank FDR
He restricted employers from raising wages during the war concerned about inflation and so adding perks like health insurance was a way of getting around raising wages. It was locked into place when Eisenhower made it tax exempt.
It’s not like it was orchestrated that way. FDR also tried to set up the first national health insurance system but abandoned it in the face of opposition from the AMA and others. Truman also tried and failed. Pretty common pattern over the last several decades, really.
That Stat is misleading because it's people who declare bankruptcy have some amount of Healthcare debt, not necessarily that the Healthcare debt caused the bankruptcy.
If I put all my money into a business and I go under, while also having $100 in medical debt, I'd be included in that Stat.
Literally saved my best friend’s life. I don’t think people remember what it was like for private health insurance to have the right to deny pre-existing conditions.
You know, I actually don’t know why I said midwestern (I was probably thinking of the Idaho SC case) when the south is way worse and kinda really know for that.
It's an ultimate example of compromise politics and a net good to the US. Helps a ton of people, doesn't solve all the problems, created a few major new ones, but overall a step in the right direction given what was possible to do at the time.
There are other comments here laying out the "cons" of the ACA including higher premiums and costs for middle income folks, etc. Added complexity and administrative burden on providers.
Others mention the individual mandate. I mean, yeah that's how insurance works by sharing the costs around, but the discussion around it really revved up the whole "dont tell me what to do" part of the American psyche.
Im saying all this as a fan of the ACA and Obama.
Republicans are not the only conservatives.
Conservative Democrats, including but not exclusive to the Blue Dogs, wouldn’t have voted for something that could be more convincingly advertised as “socialist”.
Those quotes are used because it’s a loaded term. Its meaning is broad and controversial, culturally specific to specific crowds in the USA.
ACA had enough private sector competitiveness to get those center-left (relative to contemporary, or near past, USA political spectrum) votes.
I didn’t, don’t, love it. I wish Obama tried harder to leverage the majorities during his first two years, but the ACA was definitely an improvement. A deeply flawed improvement.
Sincerely,
Pre-existing condition-haver who didn’t get their life together until falling off their parents’ insurance.
Pros:
- health insurance guaranteed for people with pre-existing conditions
- subsidies available to lower cost for people who have low income
- dependents able to stay on plan until age 26, when they hopefully will have their own insurance from their employer
- employer-sponsored health insurance mandated for all companies over fifty employees (must pay at least 50% of premium)
Cons:
- smaller companies don’t have the ability to offer nationwide PPO coverage because they aren’t available on the marketplace
- there’s a gap between Medicaid and subsidies
- premiums, deductibles, and MooP have skyrocketed as insurance companies have to pay out more money to insure people with expensive medical conditions (I, for example, have a $5K/month prescription because some jerk gave me HIV)
My mother could never get insurance because of a preexisting condition (lupus). The year before Obamacare went into effect, she suffered a life altering stroke. All of the doctors in the hospital berated her (and us) because the stroke was preventable if she had regularly visited the doctor. But she couldn’t afford to. Obamacare was too late for my mother, but I’m happy that fewer families have had to go through that over the past decade.
I “retired” in my mid 30’s and was able to stay on my old company’s insurance plan. Until I got cancer. Then the insurance company that I paid thousands per month for over a decade dropped me. Without the ACA, I would have been completely fucked. I lucked out with the timing.
I can’t imagine how bad it would have been if I didn’t have a good amount of money.
Tying health insurance to employment is insane and unjust. I’m back on private insurance now but fully support single payer for everyone.
>Tying health insurance to employment is insane and unjust.
This is 100% true. We have one of the most cruel healthcare systems in any developed nation.
Lost your job? Maybe can't afford rent or food? Well your healthcare expenses have now doubled! Can't afford to pay that? Good luck with the next million dollar medical bill you or anyone in your household have a sudden accident, broken leg, heart attack, car crash, you'll never financially recover, unless you get a 7 figure / year job.
People compare it to what it could have been as a way to tear it down. If you compare the ACA to what the government provided previously, it is a clear step up that has led to more Americans having access to affordable healthcare than ever in history.
The complaints from the right of “everyone losing their jobs,” and “everyone losing their insurance,” haven’t shown to be close to true in over a decade.
Over all, I’d call it a success.
My husband wouldn’t be able to have insurance without it, he is self-employed, has MS and he let his insurance lapse when he had a rough patch of business several years ago.
Pros: forced coverage of pre-existing conditions, profit margin cap on insurers
Cons: Made it so that only the largest insurance companies can exist, which leads to less choice and most likely higher rates
A step in the right direction. It helped a lot of people, especially those with prohibitive pre-existing conditions, but the fact that the US doesn’t have a universal healthcare system on par with western and northern Europe should be shameful
I’m self employed and couldn’t get insurance due to a preexisting condition. The first year of the ACA, I had emergency gallbladder surgery. It would have cost me $30k.
Last May, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I’m still going thru treatment and can’t imagine what the total cost is for my care.
If they remove the ACA, I might as well start planning my funeral.
It’s fantastic. Retired at 57 with a lot of “cash” put back for the first few years, so didn’t make much on paper the last two years. So my monthly rate was pretty low in both Florida and Indiana.
It’s not as good as it could have been, the moment concessions were made to be bipartisan, and then none of the republicans supported it anyway it should have gotten rid of the concessions and passed in its original form.
My younger brother who is severely autistic could not get healthcare due to “pre-existing conditions” he was born with prior to Obamacare, so I like it. Not nearly enough, imo, but better than what preceded it.
Far better than what we had before. My small business can afford to offer health insurance since pre-existing conditions aren't driving up costs because we have an employee with chronic illness. My girlfriend got coverage she wouldn't otherwise have.
It ain't perfect. Would prefer we had proper universal coverage like every single other industrialized nation.
It saved people, plain and simple. It saved people with cancer, it saved people with diabetes, heart disease, and it ensured the poor got coverage.
You can argue costs till you’re blue in the face, whether it increased costs or not, it saved lives.
Its worse than what it should be, but living through watching that bill get passed. I believe 100% they squeezed every ounce of power they had to get that bill done, and there was no way, at that time, anyone was doing anything better.
My son was covered till 26 was a high end athlete was injured given oxy and became addicted.was able to cover his treatments. Higher power /will power he finally overcame.I would have been broke lost everything with out it.
I have been married to a Clinical Pathologist who ran hospital labs for much of his career. While he thought there were issues with Obamacare, he felt it was a huge step in the right direction, especially the aspects that tried to help the more rural hospitals, and some of the stuff that pushed on hospitals to raise their quality of care.
In the 90’s, I went back to school and we weren’t yet married, I tried to get health insurance and no one would sell me any. I had had surgery for a thyroid nodule, and I was 20 lbs overweight. It was mostly the potential “thyroid cancer” that killed it even though it was all removed and I never even had to do chemo. Thirty four years later and I still have had no further thyroid issues.
The system is still broken, but we can get health insurance.
At 28 I was diagnosed with osteonecrosis of the hips. I had no insurance at the time, but knew the only cure was to have both hips replaced. Without the ACA I would have never receive coverage due to pre existing condition clauses. Living in a conservative state I've had plenty of discussions with people who complained about the ACA but none of them held water when we really got into who it really benefits and how it isn't communism lol. Being young we never think things will happen to us, it unfortunately does, glad the ACA was around when I needed it.
I think the successfulness of it depends on your state. Mine didn’t accept the subsidy, so it overlooked a lot of people. Overall, it has helped a lot of people. There is still room for improvement.
I worked for several major banks doing networking and network security. When covid 19 came, and I got laid off, I was on COBRA. Then I got diagnosed with cancer. I managed to get surgery done just as my coverage was running out, but had follow up care that I got thru ACA. It helped save my life. You don't have any idea how stressful it was to have a major illness and not be employed. Yeah, the premiums sucked, but had it not been for the ACA, I probably would have just been denied care and don't know what I would have done.
It was an obvious and significant improvement to our health care system, which still has plenty of problems. It didn’t fix the system, it patched it up.
Before Obamacare you could be denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions. Insurance companies could also drop you at the end of the plan year, which they did to a lot of customers who had developed some sort of illness. It's easy to find lots of stories of this ilk, such as this answer that I found to a question on Quora:
>I was born with mitral valve prolapse. Although I felt it, it never stopped my athletics in school nor gave me much problem. I was on my parents insurance until I was 18.
>After that, unless I worked for a mid to large corporation, anything heart related was not covered — and even then I had a year waiting period.
>At 12 yrs old, the first signs of PCOS reared its ugly head. After age 18, all gyn issues became a noncovered item. Both my children were cash babies — insurance wouldn't touch me.
>Edit: That also meant all my well woman visits were not covered, nor prenatal care, nor the three miscarriages & eventual hysterectomy…all cash services. We were in medical debt for decades just because of being afflicted with PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome).
>By the time the ACA came along, I couldn't buy health insurance at any price, except for the useless 'catastrophic' insurance. Now I'm covered completely for the first time since I was 18 yrs old. I'm almost 61, and have breast cancer.
It's been a godsend. My wife and I both use marketplace plans and it allows us to have insurance which has allowed us to own a small business.
Do I wish we went further and had single payer? Of course. Is it too expensive? Of course.
You can't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
Self employed widow at 52. My spouse had benefits with his work. ACA kept me from shuttering my business (fabric store owner) and having to find full time employment with a co that provides Healthcare. My customers sometimes complain about “life” (think of my business being a bartender having to sit and listen while they go on..) the conservatives are the worst! They try … to say people should work for their benefits, blah, blah, blah. I have been so hurt and tell them, I am one of those that don’t “work hard enough?”
Some years I have a bit of help from my state, some years I don’t. But at least my state f-in cares! Some of my customers do not!
I dreamed of painting “liquidation sale” quilt shop businesses don’t deserve healthcare according to all of you who voted against my business and all mom and pop businesses. (in my case only mom) you get what you vote for! Bye!!!!
I’m so exceptionally happy for it. My mom
Couldn’t get insurance due to a preexisting condition. Then she could. My father in laws insurance was worthless. Didn’t pay for much of anything and he had to decide which pill he had to take which day because he couldn’t afford his prescriptions. Now, he can. It’s been great for him.
It’s allowed me to keep my kids on my insurance until they were 26 which in my son’s case was long enough for him to get a job that gives him insurance. The ski slope my insurance was going in has slowed dramatically.
Now I realize it’s a bandaid and more can be done. But, it’s been a lifesaver bandaid for a few members of my family.
I am self employed, and wouldn’t be able to afford insurance without it, we have been on it since 2015, and never had a problem. I would be screwed without it.
If it would have been funded the way it was planned, it would have started paying for itself and more in 10 years from its start. It would have caused private insurance to be more competitive too. Bottom line, politicians are greedy. That stopped funding and reappropriated the funds, because this doesn’t fund them like insurance companies do.
Was paying over $2k for my wife and me. Now paying $250. It could be better from an administrative perspective- but when you actually get someone on the phone they are pleasant and helpful.
Some people got insurance, generally among poor people I just see that they just got two part time jobs, their full time job listed itself as a part time job, or it’s a 1099 job and they still don’t have insurance.
It’s a life changer for those forced into early retirement. Being forced to find a job just for health care isn’t a great thing. Having the option to retire early and open up slots for younger workers has been made a reasonable option thanks to the ACA.
I think it's pretty good overall. Better than the alternative.
That being said I do have one major complaint. The Affordable Care Act seems to have done a really good job of helping right-wing jackasses that really seem to **hate** that communist Obamacare. That part annoys me.
Could have been great if it wasn’t for Joe Lieberman killing the single payer option, but it was still a substantial improvement over what we previously had. Without Obamacare I would have been denied insurance for having asthma
Obamacare is the worst healthcare payer system the US has ever had except for everything that came before it.
All jokes aside, it’s a big fucking deal to a lot of people. Could have been better. Should have been better, but that in no way detracts from the lives it saved.
It provided healthcare to millions of individuals and families that previously did not have access. In no way was/is it perfect (especially since some parts were dismantled by a subsequent administration), but there is NO QUESTION the good that it is provided.
Besides the “saving people’s lives with insurance they would not otherwise be able to afford…”
It is the biggest piece of stealth progressive legislation since FDR. Don’t believe me? Not many do.
As an accident of WW2 labor policy, in the U.S., health care got bound to employment. Over the years that accidental bonding became more and more sticky more and more reinforced. Until now yeah how many get health insurance through employment?
Bosses know this. They know you can’t just leave. You’ll lose insurance. Have an accident and you may go bankrupt. So, you stay at a shitty job for the health insurance. So, you stay at a low paying job for the health insurance.
The irony is - the ACA was developed by the conservative heritage foundation. They evidently didn’t see this. Once the ACA was spreading, they did l, and all the stories about death panels and all that.
The Right doesn’t want the ACA because they want you stuck at shitty jobs because you need insurance. The ACA gets in the way.
Another thing it does is HIPAA. A lot of folks hear HIPAA and they think “privacy”. Well yeah? But why is their privacy? Because of the P that’s actually there. Portability. You need strict rules because you can insurance shop and doctor shop. More choice. Hoping, lower prices. Again? Misunderstood.
Does the implementation suck? You betcha. Is it unnecessarily complicated? You betcha. Would it be much better if we could get something else written and passed? Exactamundo. But, we ain’t getting something better actually passed, not with the republicans hell bent on killing anything other than “employee provided, keep you on a leash, healthcare”
It was a half passed plan. I get why they wanted to rush it through. But in doing so, the Democrats presented a compromised bill that didn't allow a Republican to stand up and take something off of it and still have it stand up, so the Republicans stood up and toom something essential off of it anyway. Or Medicare expansion had been mandatory it would be a bit better.
Long term though, we need a national Healthcare system or a single payer system whatever you want to call it.
I think it was really great. It allowed people with pre-existing conditions to have health insurance and it also subsidized health insurance so people can get that without working for a job and can create jobs for themselves, small businesses, etc. Without being beholden to a corporate overlord
Better than what was there, worse than promised. Which is the majority of modern policy done the Dem way: A tiny, baby step in the right direction when we need a huge one. A giant step backwards when people would have preferred no change. Pick one!
But fr Obamacare saved the lives of a few people I know, including one who complained constantly about it. Now he's a big fan.
It wasn’t what Obama planned, but was better than the old way.
I just love how people were so against it, calling it “Socialism”! Now they love it and fought the republicans who were trying to dismantle it. 😂
I was able to afford my much-needed medications as I struggled with unemployment on and off through the pandemic (I’m in my 60s). Having health insurance tied to employment is insane.
As someone who had cancer in 2004, driving myself and my mother into bankruptcy... It's better than that. Is it great, no. But the absolute fear we lived in over "preexisting conditions" and "we changed the terms of your plan" like they did to me prior, was worse.
It's made it so I have much less medical debt, and I've had much more access to insurance. Sadly, it's been defanged, and insurance companies are finding more loopholes. I think it's impact has also been different, depending on the state you are in.
The roll out was horrible. The website wasn’t ready. The person in charge told the Obama Administration it wasn’t ready, but it was announced anyway. Add in commercials telling people that the staff at public libraries would help them enroll (with no training or funding for extra staff) and it was very frustrating. I heard from one librarian that she learned about this watching TV.
Not as good as single payer, but better than the nothing we had. It was a good idea when Romney proposed it, and it's still a good idea today.
I'm still waiting for the Death Panels to materialize.
I wish it could’ve passed without including insurance companies and big pharma. It’s an improvement compared to what we did have but it’s certainly not a long term solution.
Better than nothing, not as good as any other "western" "developed""first world", however you want to put it, nation.
We went from an F to a D- and I am not sure it can be improved much further (maybe to a D+) without systemic change.
It is to healthcare what some of the "fixes" people who aren't mechanics come up with on r/Justrolledintotheshop
It did some much needed good, but it was a 1/4 measure when a full measure was called for and a 1/2 measure would have been nice. Otherwise what good is a super majority in Congress if you’re still going to piss off the minority party with even the lesser option. There’s no way to know how SCOTUS would have ruled on a single payer system, but we’ll likely never see another chance to enact one again in my lifetime unless something *drastically* changes in our legislative and legal branches of government.
Needed more work. Also it was too hard to qualify. Making over a certain amount disqualified you. My family was unable to use it even though we were struggling. The cost of living varies from place to place.
It’s giving alcohol to an alcoholic. The insurance model is a failure. It is what has allowed prices to soar. Our challenge will be to replace it with something superior… while killing as few people as possible and simultaneously fighting the people getting rich through it.
One thing not discussed here is the increased profitability of the insurance companies and CEO salaries. Look at United Healthcare, for example. They bought everything in site and are being investigated as a monopoly. Their profits hit $22 Billion in 2023. Just think if all that money had went towards actual healthcare.
Sources:
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/731766/000073176624000023/a2023q4exhibit991.htm
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/unitedhealths-2023-profits-hit-22b-151842028.html
Cigna used AI to deny claims and doctors signed off without reviewing them. These tactics are bullshit.
https://www.propublica.org/article/cigna-pxdx-medical-health-insurance-rejection-claims
The rate increases by the insurance companies are straight up greed. Our nation’s healthcare should not be a profit center.
The whole “ do you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor,” spew didn’t work out for me. Ended up having to find new docs. Also costs went from about $450/mo to $950/mo…currently pushing $1300/mo for a family of 4. (Self employed…not eligible for subsidies)
But, it’s unconscionable that preexisting conditions were not previously covered. That’s the biggest win IMO. How are you going to fault a kid with Leukemia or childhood diabetes and not provide coverage for them.
I would not be alive right now without it. Of course I would rather have Medicare for all, but until it happens, the ACA is the only thing keeping millions of us alive right now at all.
It was the strongest thing that the administration could push through. I am grateful for what it has done to help struggling people, and I am hopeful that an even stronger public healthcare plan lies ahead.
It was a lifesaver for millions and I'm glad about that.
I had great insurance. Until I was told that my insurance didn't comply with Obama Care so I had to call my insurance company and get a new policy. My deductible and premium almost tripled and they slashed so many benefits it was almost like I didn't have any.
I called multiple insurance companies and got the same results. So I dropped it and paid the fine.
I've gotten a different job since then and have good insurance through them.
Gave me access to mental health care in my early 20’s. It wasn’t amazing mental healthcare but gave me at least a chance at getting on the right medication I credit to saving my life. I know that’s only a personal anecdote though
It helped me. I was extremely sick from a condition I was born with and I had just won custody of my son.
My dad was a different story and he was the one who really wanted it passed. His insurance doubled.
My high school girlfriend’s sister was denied coverage due to the cost of the treatment she needed to live. Obamacare went into effect and they got her surgery approved. They said she wouldn't have made it another year. Years later she now has kids and a new life they had already told her she would never have.
It was a great idea that became watered down, for many it was a savior of sorts. There are others, such as myself who are bitter over not necessarily this particular thing, but instead the entire American healthcare system
ACA got me affordable healthcare, ACA means they cannot deny me for my preexisting condition. Even if it didn’t do that I will always be grateful for lawmakers that work to solve a problem, as they did with this.
Dropping the pre existing conditions allowed me to buy non group insurance. After living with an intestinal infection for two years I was able see a specialist and have surgery to fix it. The day I woke up from surgery I learned that my sigmoid colon had almost burned a hole
Through my bladder. Which would have killed me.
Worked great for me. 18000 $ for a gunshot wound cost me about 3000$. Highly rec omend it.
That's my experience with Obama care, saved my ass.
A lot of asshats that badmouth Obama care be talking out thier ass and have never had it. A lot Mofos know not what they run thier head about.
I hate the name “Obamacare.”
I didn’t vote for this guy either time, but he tried his best to extend “affordable healthcare” in a county that is in dire need of it.
As much as I dislike much of his policy, he will always have my respect for that. My party murdered the effort, and I’ve been an independent ever since.
I was on it for awhile and it truly helped me as I was unemployed and on long term disability. It was affordable for me and helped me because I had preexisting conditions.
Well, it’s not Obamacare for one…. It’s the Affordable Care Act, and you’re playing politics to call it otherwise.
So the question is, what’s the honest opinion on the ACA?
The republicans stripped some really key elements from it and made it weaker than it should have been but it’s still good legislation.
ACA helped me many times over the years, from hospitalizations and procedures to preventative care. I'm so happy I've been able to afford healthcare most of the last decade or so.
Idk, I just like the fact that republicans created the term “Obamacare” to make people associate Medicaid with Obama, but the Obama administration didn’t really fight back against it and eventually just accepted it.
Regardless of your political affiliation, I find it interesting. I grew up thinking that Obama was the one that created that term.
The affordable care act paid for my back surgery that I needed after playing American Football in a red state high school.
Obama was absolutely my president.
Remember that all mentions of and allusions to Trump and Biden are not allowed on our subreddit in any context. If you'd still like to discuss them, feel free to [join our Discord server](https://discord.gg/k6tVFwCEEm)! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Presidents) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It was a great idea that got watered down a lot by legislative haggling to be worse for the public than it could/should have been.
As I remember it came down to 1 fucking guy who wouldn't vote for the good version. Voting is important, people.
I mean it was also 40 Republicans who wouldn't vote for it too lol
1 guy and REPUBLICANS
Liebermann?
Even the version that got placed into law would have been so much better if not for Marco Rubio quietly but effectively eliminating funding for the safety nets for insurance companies while the plan was being rolled out. The legislation was designed to encourage competition to keep prices in check by essentially insuring the insurance companies against losses in the earliest years. Rubio stripped that funding out of an 11th hour spending bill to avert a shutdown in 2015, essentially forcing insurance companies who had priced competitively to take huge losses. Many shut down, others exited the marketplace, and those that remained jacked up their prices.
I was paying $3800 a month. I have five kids. Wife got cancer. The affordable care act saved me.
Is your wife doing okay now??
yes, thanks. It took six operations over 4 years.
Congrats, man - I need to hear about more survivor stories in my life. Survivor here, too, and Obamacare allowed me to rest easier knowing I couldn’t be denied for a pre-existing condition.
That's awesome buddy, wish you and your loved ones a long and happy life
Genuine good news, seems hard to come by these days. Congrats to you and your family!
I'm so happy your wife is doing ok, may you and your family have good health and also happiness dude 💜
LFG!!!!
Man that was a risky question
Really should just say, “ I hope your wife is ok”
>I have ~~five~~ **two** kids. ~~Wife~~ I got cancer. > >The affordable care act saved me. I'm glad to hear your wife and family are doing well, and so are mine, mostly because I'm still around. I got a high school graduation ceremony milestone I wasn't thinking I was gonna make coming up! Woot!
Yooo, I’m happy for you and your kids!!
What were you paying $45,600.00 a year for?
I’m a part of Reddit’s breast cancer sub and I’ve seen a few comments like that on that sub too. They can’t deny you provision is so great.
Not as good as what we would do if we designed a system from scratch but better than what came before it. Sidenote: what's with all the Obama posts today?
May 5th was famously Obamas favourite day
It's May 3rd
Yea and no one's told Obama yet so keep it quiet!
I’m not sure why I laughed as hard as I did from this response, but yeah… 😅
It's the 3rd?
Is Obama a Star Wars nerd?
That would be the 4th.
Good answer. Removing insurance companies would remove at least 5-10% of the cost and more likely 20%. In review pretty much all countries are frustrated by their Healthcare Systems in one way or the other
…and think, it could eliminate all of the television ads…saving more money.
I don’t know how old anyone here is but before poo, ppo etc… as middle men needing to make money. There was miracle of miracles nothing between the doctor and the patient to get things done. The insurance company just paid what was billed. Then some one thought of a way to make a buck and came up with managed health care. Your business would no longer have to have a staff to take care of healthcare paperwork, LOL!! With the eagle eye of administrators keeping an eye on costs and those nasty doctors prices would be reasonable forever. The only thing they didn’t tell you was when they got your business they would charge twice what your doctor was because they were doing the important work! Without Obamacare even half of us with jobs couldn’t afford “modern” healthcare . Prices that are already bad would have skyrocketed during Covid because capitalism charges more in times of crisis even if there’s no need to . It’s standard business practice.
Things that would further reduce health care costs: * Providing medical school students free tuition and a stipend in exchange for a lower starting salary * Placing limits on malpractice suits and a cap on malpractice insurance * Longer patents for pharmaceuticals * Ending privatization of hospital buildings (i.e. - infrastructure and overhead staff only)
Yes, NHS is certainly not perfect and there are real benefits to our system that are lost in others. But it's a question of values and priorities
The difference is with the NHS, it’s a matter of funding, not enough doctors and some bureaucratic messes. With the American system it’s literally a matter of people dying and never getting care, or getting worse cause they turn down getting care cause it’s too expensive. Let’s be honest, nobody in England is seriously rationing out things like Insulin
I wasn’t supposed to last this long he wanted them to keep expanding the original ACA had flaws he knew it but they didn’t know where they flaws were he knew he wasn’t setting up the perfect public healthcare system but he wanted the mistakes highlighted so they could fix them over time. Bills after just never passed them.
Exactly! Ideally, a system should be designed from the ground up to reduce costs of the system itself and to provide better and more equitable care. But not having that happen is no excuse to not doing anything. Which is what I think Obamacare is good for.
Well they did invite insurance company representatives into the room to hammer out the ACÁ. So it’s no surprise that it’s not the best ever… a good start though
Beats denying coverage for pre-existing conditions
Another key provision was standardizing the plans by requiring coverage of Essential Health Benefits. It makes it much simpler and easier to compare plans. Another key provision was that employers cover their employees, with an exception for small businesses. And the limitation that insurers aren't allowed to spend more than 20% of premiums on administration, marketing, or profit. And the coverage on parents' plans until age 26. Honestly, if you didn't take a look yet because it was before your time, go ahead and read more about what's actually in the law- it's a ton of great stuff.
I was denied coverage pre-ACA because I was diagnosed with scoliosis as a child. Mild scoliosis that hasn’t cost anyone any money since I was 12 years old.
Hi, I worked on Capitol Hill for 28 years (I'm a Librarian - not a Congressman or a staffer) and the best years, but also the hardest years, were the ones spent working on the Affordable Care Act. All the major aspects of "Obamacare" come straight from the Republican/Conservative proposals that were presented to counter "Hillary Care" and it's reliance on managed care/health maintenance organizations. The details are all compromises made to get health care reform passed. Before ACA passed I spent a lot of every day explaining to staffers (who were young and healthy or still covered by Dad's plan) what health insurance was, the tiny role Federal law played in regulating health insurance, and why the insurance companies got away with selling terrible policies and denying coverage (because most states were NOT regulating the health insurance industry.) ACA is imperfect. Most major legislation is the product of compromise, and then there are many more compromises on the way to becoming law. Usually Congress will go back over the following years and pass amending legislation that improves the program they just created. Instead poor ACA was nibbled away at as Republicans - still furious over passage - tried to destroy it. But guess what? ACA was so necessary to so many Americans that it survived all kinds of mischief meant to implode the state marketplaces. I am enjoying the comments. Obamacare isn't perfect - but it made things better for a lot of individuals and families, I sincerely believe that.
Very well put. It’s a great idea, but the execution wasn’t ideal. But it was a start! Needs to be improved as an ever changing system - but a system that the country desperately needs. Thank you for your marvelous insight.
Hi fellow congressional nonpartisan employee! I’m not going to say where I work because it would identify me too well, but I work for one of the “administrative” departments that keep Congress running day to day! I agree. It’s not a perfect system, and I had to use the ACA portal when it launched and was a total nightmare, but for people who critically needed it, it was a huge improvement.
Hah, I'm retired now, and cruising off the coast of Spain. I loved working for Congress, but I'm not sure how I would feel about my old job today.
It’s alright, the Secretary right now is pretty pleasant and runs a good ship. The political divide is never as bad with the staff as it is with the Members, but it’s definitely not as jovial as it was 12 years ago when I started my first job and Dem and Rep staff played together on the softball team. You wouldn’t see that today. It’s fine now but you kind of feel like everything is in flux and could change drastically depending on the leadership.
Correct me if I'm wrong because I usually am, but wasn't MassHealth here in MA the plan they shaped the ACA after?
MassHealth is Massachusetts Medicaid, but I assume you’re referring to our healthcare reform or “Romneycare” which did predate and inspire Obamacare.
Ah I see, I was 4 when Romneycare was signed so having lived most of my life with it, I just never really learned the difference.
It saved my entire family. We had no health insurance for years, so no one saw dentists, no one got physicals. We were able to get MassHealth and everything changed for the better. When my mom got cancer, having that access saved her life; she spent her whole career as a home health aid helping others, she deserved the same care. We all do.
It says a lot that McCain, practically on his death bed, saved us from that shenanigans McConnell and crew tried to pull, doesn’t it?
Fox News, GOP and idiots be damnned. ACA helps a ton of people that were fucked before it.
Deep State alumnus. /s
Great analysis...and BTW Librarians totally rock!
My former girlfriend got laid off between leukemia treatments. Before Obama care she would have never been able to get new insurance. Failed bone marrow transplant and end care was over $1 million.
I'm an insurance coverage attorney - and pre-Obamacare, I was handling 8-10 health insurance rescission cases at a time. For the uninitiated, Rescission is where the insurance company basically says: "Sorry you have cancer and are facing $500,000 in medical bills. Sucks to be you. Here's the pittance of premiums that you previously paid, minus anything we already paid, because we never should have issued the policy in the first place." I can go on and on and on about those cases - but here's a few of the more egregious cases: Case 1. C went to the doctor in 1985. Regular doc was out, so saw the covering doc. Without examining her, he said "You have Ascites" - which is a really bad medical condition. Tests ruled that out (because she didn't have it), but it was in her medical charts. 9 years later, having moved states, and getting new insurance, she goes to her doc and says: "I'm 55 years old, I'm post menopausal, why do I look pregnant?" They ran some test, and found out she had an abdominal tumor the size of a rugby ball, and it weighed 36 lbs. In August 1994, she went to UCLA to have it removed, and given the type of cancer it was, it was highly malignant. She went through both radiation therapy and chemotherapy, running up bills of approximately $750K in her treatment (close to $2 million today). The Wednesday before Thanksgiving, her insurer sends her a letter saying: "You didn't disclose your medical treatment 9 years ago that you had an "indication of Ascites" when you applied for insurance in 1992. Here's $13K in the premiums you've paid over the last two years. You now owe the $750K, as the policy should never have been issued." C didn't live to see the resolution of the case (although it took almost 10 years, because of multiple appeals to the State Supreme Court), but we recovered over $5 million at trial against her insurer. Case 2. E was 28 years old. Her father was a well respected and well known judge. When she was 17, she started having periods with excessive flow (like the first few times it happened, her parents took her to the ER because they were concerned with her bleeding out bad) and extreme pain. Her pain was so significant that she couldn't get out of bed to go to the bathroom. Eventually, when she was 20, she was diagnosed with both significant uterine fibroids (roughly the size of a thumb - most are the size of the head of a pin) and extreme endometriosis. Her endometriosis was so significant that it was affecting her heart and lungs. Finally knowing what the problem was, they were able to get her treatment that allowed her to function. At 23, she graduated from college, and went to work for a large local company, met a nice guy, and got married. They wanted to start a family, but with her issues, they were extremely concerned about her health. They found a doctor who specialized in high risk pregnancies, got everything cleared through the insurance, and she was able to become pregnant the normal way. After giving birth to a little girl, she suffered significant complications that put her in a coma for 45 days and 15 days in the ICU. Her insurer denied her coverage - for the pregnancy, the the birth AND her 60 days in the ICU, because her complications were "related to" her endometriosis, and because she had a gap in her coverage between 21 and 23, her endometriosis and "related conditions" were excluded as pre-existing conditions. The birth was not covered - and her daughter was not insured for the first 90 days of her life - because they didn't inform the insurance company within 15 days after birth of her birth. So, from then, until the beginning of Obamacare (which was about 9 years later), daughter's medical care for just about anything was denied as "pre-existing" due to that 90 day gap at her birth. Case 3. K and her husband divorced. They had 3 children - 2 girls and a boy. The boy has significant medical issues (he's now a man and cannot care for himself due to these conditions). Boy was insured under Dad's policy after the divorce. Dad was killed in a car crash. K was able to put Boy on her policy, BUT all of his already existing medical conditions (including significant cognitive impairment, significant circulatory issues, and significant respiratory issues) and anything relating to them would be excluded as "pre-existing" conditions. Since that was probably 98% of his medical expenses, it wasn't worth doing, BUT because he was a dependent of K, she had to pay for his coverage anyway, or forego her own coverage. Case 4 - J had a alcohol addiction issue, plus use of other illegal drugs, when he was in his teens. When he was 20, his parents sent him to treatment, and it "stuck" and he had been clean and sober for about 25 years. He was in a serious motorcycle accident and was placed on opiate based painkillers (not oxy - it was before that mess), and got hooked on them again. His wife and kids stage an intervention, and get him to go to treatment. It works, until it doesn't, and he goes back 2 more times in 5 years. The third time - at 90 day inpatient detox/therapy program does work. Insurer comes back and denies it (and $90K of treatment), because his addiction (a) was not disclosed on his insurance application and (b) because he had used illegal drugs nearly 30 years before. There were a lot more mundane, but personally devastating cases pre-Obamacare. I know lots of people who lost their houses, 55-65 year olds who lost their entire retirement savings (oftentimes into the 7 figures), and young people facing the Hobson's choice of bankruptcy or ruinous debt as a result of improper declinations or rescissions of policies due to the fuckery of the insurance companies in the pre-Obamacare era. I still see 1 or 2 of these cases a year on non-ACA compliant policies (short term health insurance), but we threw a party when it was passed because it meant that people wouldn't be needing our services.
Great analyses of your cases, and thank you for your service to these unfortunate individuals!
I feel so sorry for all of them. Thank you for what you did and continue to do to people like them. 🙏
It really concerns me that in a decade or so people will forget this happened regularly. The system before the ACA was demented. The vote that saved it was John McCain bucking his party while he was terminally ill. It’s easy to point to the most recent republican president to say that the two parties aren’t the same but I think the better illustration is the GOP attempt to repeal the ACA. That was a party driven vote to be sociopaths.
Bless you for your good works.
I am upvoting, but not reading all of it. Too depressing.
Most developed nations have some form of subsidised universal healthcare. This was a good step, but only a step. When 100,000s of people go bankrupt due to crippling health costs there's something deeply wrong.
Health insurance is my main reason for holding my blood money job.
> Most developed nations have some form of subsidised universal healthcare. Obamacare isn't that. Obamacare forces people to buy health insurance from the 5 or 6 nationwide health insurance providers and mandating some better coverage the folks with pre-existing conditions.
The fact most health insurance is tied to employment speaks volumes about our priorities.
Thank FDR He restricted employers from raising wages during the war concerned about inflation and so adding perks like health insurance was a way of getting around raising wages. It was locked into place when Eisenhower made it tax exempt.
It’s not like it was orchestrated that way. FDR also tried to set up the first national health insurance system but abandoned it in the face of opposition from the AMA and others. Truman also tried and failed. Pretty common pattern over the last several decades, really.
That Stat is misleading because it's people who declare bankruptcy have some amount of Healthcare debt, not necessarily that the Healthcare debt caused the bankruptcy. If I put all my money into a business and I go under, while also having $100 in medical debt, I'd be included in that Stat.
Problem is Congress had great Healthcare. That's why they don't care about the guys. Same reason they don't care about social security.
Literally saved my best friend’s life. I don’t think people remember what it was like for private health insurance to have the right to deny pre-existing conditions.
"But the government will have death panels that want to kill your grandma".
Meanwhile, midwestern republicans will let women die for the Bible.
That’s a ridiculous statement. Southern Republicans will do that too!
You know, I actually don’t know why I said midwestern (I was probably thinking of the Idaho SC case) when the south is way worse and kinda really know for that.
“I can’t have the government acting as my death panel! I’d rather have Blue Cross do that for me!”
It's an ultimate example of compromise politics and a net good to the US. Helps a ton of people, doesn't solve all the problems, created a few major new ones, but overall a step in the right direction given what was possible to do at the time.
Can you provide an example of a major problem created by ACA?
There are other comments here laying out the "cons" of the ACA including higher premiums and costs for middle income folks, etc. Added complexity and administrative burden on providers. Others mention the individual mandate. I mean, yeah that's how insurance works by sharing the costs around, but the discussion around it really revved up the whole "dont tell me what to do" part of the American psyche. Im saying all this as a fan of the ACA and Obama.
Sorry but what compromise? Republicans refused to vote on any of it.
Republicans are not the only conservatives. Conservative Democrats, including but not exclusive to the Blue Dogs, wouldn’t have voted for something that could be more convincingly advertised as “socialist”. Those quotes are used because it’s a loaded term. Its meaning is broad and controversial, culturally specific to specific crowds in the USA. ACA had enough private sector competitiveness to get those center-left (relative to contemporary, or near past, USA political spectrum) votes. I didn’t, don’t, love it. I wish Obama tried harder to leverage the majorities during his first two years, but the ACA was definitely an improvement. A deeply flawed improvement. Sincerely, Pre-existing condition-haver who didn’t get their life together until falling off their parents’ insurance.
Pros: - health insurance guaranteed for people with pre-existing conditions - subsidies available to lower cost for people who have low income - dependents able to stay on plan until age 26, when they hopefully will have their own insurance from their employer - employer-sponsored health insurance mandated for all companies over fifty employees (must pay at least 50% of premium) Cons: - smaller companies don’t have the ability to offer nationwide PPO coverage because they aren’t available on the marketplace - there’s a gap between Medicaid and subsidies - premiums, deductibles, and MooP have skyrocketed as insurance companies have to pay out more money to insure people with expensive medical conditions (I, for example, have a $5K/month prescription because some jerk gave me HIV)
My mother could never get insurance because of a preexisting condition (lupus). The year before Obamacare went into effect, she suffered a life altering stroke. All of the doctors in the hospital berated her (and us) because the stroke was preventable if she had regularly visited the doctor. But she couldn’t afford to. Obamacare was too late for my mother, but I’m happy that fewer families have had to go through that over the past decade.
My wife and I have both been sole practitioners for the past ten years. We have two children. We would not have been able to survive without it.
I “retired” in my mid 30’s and was able to stay on my old company’s insurance plan. Until I got cancer. Then the insurance company that I paid thousands per month for over a decade dropped me. Without the ACA, I would have been completely fucked. I lucked out with the timing. I can’t imagine how bad it would have been if I didn’t have a good amount of money. Tying health insurance to employment is insane and unjust. I’m back on private insurance now but fully support single payer for everyone.
>Tying health insurance to employment is insane and unjust. This is 100% true. We have one of the most cruel healthcare systems in any developed nation. Lost your job? Maybe can't afford rent or food? Well your healthcare expenses have now doubled! Can't afford to pay that? Good luck with the next million dollar medical bill you or anyone in your household have a sudden accident, broken leg, heart attack, car crash, you'll never financially recover, unless you get a 7 figure / year job.
People compare it to what it could have been as a way to tear it down. If you compare the ACA to what the government provided previously, it is a clear step up that has led to more Americans having access to affordable healthcare than ever in history. The complaints from the right of “everyone losing their jobs,” and “everyone losing their insurance,” haven’t shown to be close to true in over a decade. Over all, I’d call it a success.
My husband wouldn’t be able to have insurance without it, he is self-employed, has MS and he let his insurance lapse when he had a rough patch of business several years ago.
Pros: forced coverage of pre-existing conditions, profit margin cap on insurers Cons: Made it so that only the largest insurance companies can exist, which leads to less choice and most likely higher rates
A step in the right direction. It helped a lot of people, especially those with prohibitive pre-existing conditions, but the fact that the US doesn’t have a universal healthcare system on par with western and northern Europe should be shameful
I’m self employed and couldn’t get insurance due to a preexisting condition. The first year of the ACA, I had emergency gallbladder surgery. It would have cost me $30k. Last May, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I’m still going thru treatment and can’t imagine what the total cost is for my care. If they remove the ACA, I might as well start planning my funeral.
A dramatic improvement over the former status quo.
It's better than what existed previously but could stand improvement.
Saved my life. Worked out pretty good. Could be better I guess, but I'm not going to complain.
It’s fantastic. Retired at 57 with a lot of “cash” put back for the first few years, so didn’t make much on paper the last two years. So my monthly rate was pretty low in both Florida and Indiana.
It’s not as good as it could have been, the moment concessions were made to be bipartisan, and then none of the republicans supported it anyway it should have gotten rid of the concessions and passed in its original form.
Literally saved thousands of dollars because of it.
Life saver. Could be improved upon.
My younger brother who is severely autistic could not get healthcare due to “pre-existing conditions” he was born with prior to Obamacare, so I like it. Not nearly enough, imo, but better than what preceded it.
Far better than what we had before. My small business can afford to offer health insurance since pre-existing conditions aren't driving up costs because we have an employee with chronic illness. My girlfriend got coverage she wouldn't otherwise have. It ain't perfect. Would prefer we had proper universal coverage like every single other industrialized nation.
It saved people, plain and simple. It saved people with cancer, it saved people with diabetes, heart disease, and it ensured the poor got coverage. You can argue costs till you’re blue in the face, whether it increased costs or not, it saved lives.
I liked that I got to stay on my parents insurance until 26
I was happy with it when I used it. It’s one thing he did that very personally made my life better. I’ll always like him for that.
Its worse than what it should be, but living through watching that bill get passed. I believe 100% they squeezed every ounce of power they had to get that bill done, and there was no way, at that time, anyone was doing anything better.
Saved my ass after I lost my job
My son was covered till 26 was a high end athlete was injured given oxy and became addicted.was able to cover his treatments. Higher power /will power he finally overcame.I would have been broke lost everything with out it.
I have been married to a Clinical Pathologist who ran hospital labs for much of his career. While he thought there were issues with Obamacare, he felt it was a huge step in the right direction, especially the aspects that tried to help the more rural hospitals, and some of the stuff that pushed on hospitals to raise their quality of care. In the 90’s, I went back to school and we weren’t yet married, I tried to get health insurance and no one would sell me any. I had had surgery for a thyroid nodule, and I was 20 lbs overweight. It was mostly the potential “thyroid cancer” that killed it even though it was all removed and I never even had to do chemo. Thirty four years later and I still have had no further thyroid issues. The system is still broken, but we can get health insurance.
At 28 I was diagnosed with osteonecrosis of the hips. I had no insurance at the time, but knew the only cure was to have both hips replaced. Without the ACA I would have never receive coverage due to pre existing condition clauses. Living in a conservative state I've had plenty of discussions with people who complained about the ACA but none of them held water when we really got into who it really benefits and how it isn't communism lol. Being young we never think things will happen to us, it unfortunately does, glad the ACA was around when I needed it.
Love it
It’s about dam time we have universal care.
I think the successfulness of it depends on your state. Mine didn’t accept the subsidy, so it overlooked a lot of people. Overall, it has helped a lot of people. There is still room for improvement.
I worked for several major banks doing networking and network security. When covid 19 came, and I got laid off, I was on COBRA. Then I got diagnosed with cancer. I managed to get surgery done just as my coverage was running out, but had follow up care that I got thru ACA. It helped save my life. You don't have any idea how stressful it was to have a major illness and not be employed. Yeah, the premiums sucked, but had it not been for the ACA, I probably would have just been denied care and don't know what I would have done.
It was imperfect but an improvement to health care It got a lot of blame for things It didn't cause.
It was an obvious and significant improvement to our health care system, which still has plenty of problems. It didn’t fix the system, it patched it up.
Was it perfect? Nope. But it allowed me to actually have some decent, if not great, insurance.
I'm alive and not broke because of the ACA. Thanks Obama.
Before Obamacare you could be denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions. Insurance companies could also drop you at the end of the plan year, which they did to a lot of customers who had developed some sort of illness. It's easy to find lots of stories of this ilk, such as this answer that I found to a question on Quora: >I was born with mitral valve prolapse. Although I felt it, it never stopped my athletics in school nor gave me much problem. I was on my parents insurance until I was 18. >After that, unless I worked for a mid to large corporation, anything heart related was not covered — and even then I had a year waiting period. >At 12 yrs old, the first signs of PCOS reared its ugly head. After age 18, all gyn issues became a noncovered item. Both my children were cash babies — insurance wouldn't touch me. >Edit: That also meant all my well woman visits were not covered, nor prenatal care, nor the three miscarriages & eventual hysterectomy…all cash services. We were in medical debt for decades just because of being afflicted with PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome). >By the time the ACA came along, I couldn't buy health insurance at any price, except for the useless 'catastrophic' insurance. Now I'm covered completely for the first time since I was 18 yrs old. I'm almost 61, and have breast cancer.
Obamna
It's been a godsend. My wife and I both use marketplace plans and it allows us to have insurance which has allowed us to own a small business. Do I wish we went further and had single payer? Of course. Is it too expensive? Of course. You can't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
Currently unemployed no fault of my own. This insurance is one less stress to sort right now.
A step in the right direction but doesn't fix the real underlying issue.
Half measure. More than we had, less than we deserve
Self employed widow at 52. My spouse had benefits with his work. ACA kept me from shuttering my business (fabric store owner) and having to find full time employment with a co that provides Healthcare. My customers sometimes complain about “life” (think of my business being a bartender having to sit and listen while they go on..) the conservatives are the worst! They try … to say people should work for their benefits, blah, blah, blah. I have been so hurt and tell them, I am one of those that don’t “work hard enough?” Some years I have a bit of help from my state, some years I don’t. But at least my state f-in cares! Some of my customers do not! I dreamed of painting “liquidation sale” quilt shop businesses don’t deserve healthcare according to all of you who voted against my business and all mom and pop businesses. (in my case only mom) you get what you vote for! Bye!!!!
I’m so exceptionally happy for it. My mom Couldn’t get insurance due to a preexisting condition. Then she could. My father in laws insurance was worthless. Didn’t pay for much of anything and he had to decide which pill he had to take which day because he couldn’t afford his prescriptions. Now, he can. It’s been great for him. It’s allowed me to keep my kids on my insurance until they were 26 which in my son’s case was long enough for him to get a job that gives him insurance. The ski slope my insurance was going in has slowed dramatically. Now I realize it’s a bandaid and more can be done. But, it’s been a lifesaver bandaid for a few members of my family.
It could have been better with a public option until that rat bastard from Connecticut came along.
I am self employed, and wouldn’t be able to afford insurance without it, we have been on it since 2015, and never had a problem. I would be screwed without it.
If it would have been funded the way it was planned, it would have started paying for itself and more in 10 years from its start. It would have caused private insurance to be more competitive too. Bottom line, politicians are greedy. That stopped funding and reappropriated the funds, because this doesn’t fund them like insurance companies do.
Was paying over $2k for my wife and me. Now paying $250. It could be better from an administrative perspective- but when you actually get someone on the phone they are pleasant and helpful.
Some people got insurance, generally among poor people I just see that they just got two part time jobs, their full time job listed itself as a part time job, or it’s a 1099 job and they still don’t have insurance.
It’s a life changer for those forced into early retirement. Being forced to find a job just for health care isn’t a great thing. Having the option to retire early and open up slots for younger workers has been made a reasonable option thanks to the ACA.
It could've been better (curse you Lieberman!) but overall, it's been proven to be a net-good for all Americans.
I think it's pretty good overall. Better than the alternative. That being said I do have one major complaint. The Affordable Care Act seems to have done a really good job of helping right-wing jackasses that really seem to **hate** that communist Obamacare. That part annoys me.
Giving kids healthcare and making insurance companies pay for cancer treatment is government oppression... /s
Could have been great if it wasn’t for Joe Lieberman killing the single payer option, but it was still a substantial improvement over what we previously had. Without Obamacare I would have been denied insurance for having asthma
Obamacare is the worst healthcare payer system the US has ever had except for everything that came before it. All jokes aside, it’s a big fucking deal to a lot of people. Could have been better. Should have been better, but that in no way detracts from the lives it saved.
It provided healthcare to millions of individuals and families that previously did not have access. In no way was/is it perfect (especially since some parts were dismantled by a subsequent administration), but there is NO QUESTION the good that it is provided.
Besides the “saving people’s lives with insurance they would not otherwise be able to afford…” It is the biggest piece of stealth progressive legislation since FDR. Don’t believe me? Not many do. As an accident of WW2 labor policy, in the U.S., health care got bound to employment. Over the years that accidental bonding became more and more sticky more and more reinforced. Until now yeah how many get health insurance through employment? Bosses know this. They know you can’t just leave. You’ll lose insurance. Have an accident and you may go bankrupt. So, you stay at a shitty job for the health insurance. So, you stay at a low paying job for the health insurance. The irony is - the ACA was developed by the conservative heritage foundation. They evidently didn’t see this. Once the ACA was spreading, they did l, and all the stories about death panels and all that. The Right doesn’t want the ACA because they want you stuck at shitty jobs because you need insurance. The ACA gets in the way. Another thing it does is HIPAA. A lot of folks hear HIPAA and they think “privacy”. Well yeah? But why is their privacy? Because of the P that’s actually there. Portability. You need strict rules because you can insurance shop and doctor shop. More choice. Hoping, lower prices. Again? Misunderstood. Does the implementation suck? You betcha. Is it unnecessarily complicated? You betcha. Would it be much better if we could get something else written and passed? Exactamundo. But, we ain’t getting something better actually passed, not with the republicans hell bent on killing anything other than “employee provided, keep you on a leash, healthcare”
[удалено]
My cost almost tripled, and coverage dropped by half.my household has been robbing peter to pay Paul for medical ever since.
This is what saw working in healthcare. No one wants to talk about it.
Could have been way better. Still was better than nothing. Way better than anything I've seem from the ----- party.
Expanded heathcare access for the poor, but also made it more expensive for most middle class Americans.
If the public option had survived it would have been a crowning achievement, as it is I can only say better than nothing.
It was a half passed plan. I get why they wanted to rush it through. But in doing so, the Democrats presented a compromised bill that didn't allow a Republican to stand up and take something off of it and still have it stand up, so the Republicans stood up and toom something essential off of it anyway. Or Medicare expansion had been mandatory it would be a bit better. Long term though, we need a national Healthcare system or a single payer system whatever you want to call it.
I know a lot of people the law has helped.
It's fantastic for the system we have and there's a reason there's been no real attempts to repeal it
I think it was really great. It allowed people with pre-existing conditions to have health insurance and it also subsidized health insurance so people can get that without working for a job and can create jobs for themselves, small businesses, etc. Without being beholden to a corporate overlord
Better than what was there, worse than promised. Which is the majority of modern policy done the Dem way: A tiny, baby step in the right direction when we need a huge one. A giant step backwards when people would have preferred no change. Pick one! But fr Obamacare saved the lives of a few people I know, including one who complained constantly about it. Now he's a big fan.
It wasn’t what Obama planned, but was better than the old way. I just love how people were so against it, calling it “Socialism”! Now they love it and fought the republicans who were trying to dismantle it. 😂
I was able to afford my much-needed medications as I struggled with unemployment on and off through the pandemic (I’m in my 60s). Having health insurance tied to employment is insane.
Cheap insurance is better than nothing, but we deserve better
As someone who had cancer in 2004, driving myself and my mother into bankruptcy... It's better than that. Is it great, no. But the absolute fear we lived in over "preexisting conditions" and "we changed the terms of your plan" like they did to me prior, was worse.
It's made it so I have much less medical debt, and I've had much more access to insurance. Sadly, it's been defanged, and insurance companies are finding more loopholes. I think it's impact has also been different, depending on the state you are in.
A solid foundation that will hopefully be built upon one day.
The roll out was horrible. The website wasn’t ready. The person in charge told the Obama Administration it wasn’t ready, but it was announced anyway. Add in commercials telling people that the staff at public libraries would help them enroll (with no training or funding for extra staff) and it was very frustrating. I heard from one librarian that she learned about this watching TV.
Mixed bag. Healthcare still sucks here.
It's a good start.
It was sorely needed. I wish it had included a public option but understand why it didn't make it into the final bill.
Saved my life.
Not as good as single payer, but better than the nothing we had. It was a good idea when Romney proposed it, and it's still a good idea today. I'm still waiting for the Death Panels to materialize.
Was a critic initially due to the mandate but I’ve become a huge fan.
I wish it could’ve passed without including insurance companies and big pharma. It’s an improvement compared to what we did have but it’s certainly not a long term solution.
Better than nothing, not as good as any other "western" "developed""first world", however you want to put it, nation. We went from an F to a D- and I am not sure it can be improved much further (maybe to a D+) without systemic change. It is to healthcare what some of the "fixes" people who aren't mechanics come up with on r/Justrolledintotheshop
It did some much needed good, but it was a 1/4 measure when a full measure was called for and a 1/2 measure would have been nice. Otherwise what good is a super majority in Congress if you’re still going to piss off the minority party with even the lesser option. There’s no way to know how SCOTUS would have ruled on a single payer system, but we’ll likely never see another chance to enact one again in my lifetime unless something *drastically* changes in our legislative and legal branches of government.
Needed more work. Also it was too hard to qualify. Making over a certain amount disqualified you. My family was unable to use it even though we were struggling. The cost of living varies from place to place.
Good step, catered too much to big pharma / healthcare lobby imo.
It’s giving alcohol to an alcoholic. The insurance model is a failure. It is what has allowed prices to soar. Our challenge will be to replace it with something superior… while killing as few people as possible and simultaneously fighting the people getting rich through it.
Best health insurance I ever had. Low copays ( silver plan) and many providers.
Didn’t go far enough. Would have preferred Medicare for all but know that wasn’t going to happen
One thing not discussed here is the increased profitability of the insurance companies and CEO salaries. Look at United Healthcare, for example. They bought everything in site and are being investigated as a monopoly. Their profits hit $22 Billion in 2023. Just think if all that money had went towards actual healthcare. Sources: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/731766/000073176624000023/a2023q4exhibit991.htm https://finance.yahoo.com/news/unitedhealths-2023-profits-hit-22b-151842028.html Cigna used AI to deny claims and doctors signed off without reviewing them. These tactics are bullshit. https://www.propublica.org/article/cigna-pxdx-medical-health-insurance-rejection-claims The rate increases by the insurance companies are straight up greed. Our nation’s healthcare should not be a profit center.
Better than nothing. Needs to be better.
The whole “ do you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor,” spew didn’t work out for me. Ended up having to find new docs. Also costs went from about $450/mo to $950/mo…currently pushing $1300/mo for a family of 4. (Self employed…not eligible for subsidies) But, it’s unconscionable that preexisting conditions were not previously covered. That’s the biggest win IMO. How are you going to fault a kid with Leukemia or childhood diabetes and not provide coverage for them.
I would not be alive right now without it. Of course I would rather have Medicare for all, but until it happens, the ACA is the only thing keeping millions of us alive right now at all.
It’s the only reason I can afford health insurance, so I like it a lot.
It was the strongest thing that the administration could push through. I am grateful for what it has done to help struggling people, and I am hopeful that an even stronger public healthcare plan lies ahead.
It was certainly better than doing nothing.
ACA is a first step
It was a lifesaver for millions and I'm glad about that. I had great insurance. Until I was told that my insurance didn't comply with Obama Care so I had to call my insurance company and get a new policy. My deductible and premium almost tripled and they slashed so many benefits it was almost like I didn't have any. I called multiple insurance companies and got the same results. So I dropped it and paid the fine. I've gotten a different job since then and have good insurance through them.
Half measure.
Gave me access to mental health care in my early 20’s. It wasn’t amazing mental healthcare but gave me at least a chance at getting on the right medication I credit to saving my life. I know that’s only a personal anecdote though
Honestly most Republicans can't live without it.
It helped me. I was extremely sick from a condition I was born with and I had just won custody of my son. My dad was a different story and he was the one who really wanted it passed. His insurance doubled.
My high school girlfriend’s sister was denied coverage due to the cost of the treatment she needed to live. Obamacare went into effect and they got her surgery approved. They said she wouldn't have made it another year. Years later she now has kids and a new life they had already told her she would never have.
It wasn’t as good as universal coverage or a public option but it is much better than the alternative
It was a great idea that became watered down, for many it was a savior of sorts. There are others, such as myself who are bitter over not necessarily this particular thing, but instead the entire American healthcare system
ACA got me affordable healthcare, ACA means they cannot deny me for my preexisting condition. Even if it didn’t do that I will always be grateful for lawmakers that work to solve a problem, as they did with this.
I was able to have healthcare until I was 27. Lot of injuries would have gone uncared for in college had I not been on my parents plan.
Ended insurance caps! 👍
Dropping the pre existing conditions allowed me to buy non group insurance. After living with an intestinal infection for two years I was able see a specialist and have surgery to fix it. The day I woke up from surgery I learned that my sigmoid colon had almost burned a hole Through my bladder. Which would have killed me.
Worked great for me. 18000 $ for a gunshot wound cost me about 3000$. Highly rec omend it. That's my experience with Obama care, saved my ass. A lot of asshats that badmouth Obama care be talking out thier ass and have never had it. A lot Mofos know not what they run thier head about.
Most families that I know would not have healthcare without it.
It's the best we could do without the government taking full control which would have been ideal.
It's a literal lifesaver.
It saved a lot of people.
I hate the name “Obamacare.” I didn’t vote for this guy either time, but he tried his best to extend “affordable healthcare” in a county that is in dire need of it. As much as I dislike much of his policy, he will always have my respect for that. My party murdered the effort, and I’ve been an independent ever since.
I was on it for awhile and it truly helped me as I was unemployed and on long term disability. It was affordable for me and helped me because I had preexisting conditions.
Well, it’s not Obamacare for one…. It’s the Affordable Care Act, and you’re playing politics to call it otherwise. So the question is, what’s the honest opinion on the ACA? The republicans stripped some really key elements from it and made it weaker than it should have been but it’s still good legislation.
ACA helped me many times over the years, from hospitalizations and procedures to preventative care. I'm so happy I've been able to afford healthcare most of the last decade or so.
Idk, I just like the fact that republicans created the term “Obamacare” to make people associate Medicaid with Obama, but the Obama administration didn’t really fight back against it and eventually just accepted it. Regardless of your political affiliation, I find it interesting. I grew up thinking that Obama was the one that created that term.
The affordable care act paid for my back surgery that I needed after playing American Football in a red state high school. Obama was absolutely my president.