My Obamacare story

I just read a NY Times story about how anti-Obamacare forces are gathering horror stories to try to shoot down the Affordable Care Act. This is how the act affected me:

Because I'm taking a sabbatical to write a book, I had to get my own health insurance. I went to Blue Cross/Blue Shield out of habit and because the company has insured me for 25-plus years. I applied for a pre-Obamacare plan so I could get off my expensive COBRA coverage.

A few days later, I received a letter from Blue Cross advising me that they would not cover me now and in the future because of pre-existing conditions. These included a running injury and some trips to a chiropractor (BC identified my condition as a pelvic dysfunction!) Please see story in The Onion below to see how I felt.

So I went onto the Healthcare.gov site last night, applied for coverage that's $400 a month less than my current coverage under COBRA. I get a small subsidy because, well, I'm a journalist and we don't make much money. I had to wade through a few Website glitches, but I made it through the entire process in about an hour. The  biggest challenge was simply going through details of each plan, which happens anytime you apply for health insurance. But it was comforting to know that no matter what plan I picked, I didn't have to worry about being rejected for health insurance because of a previous health problem.

Oh, and I went with Consumer's Choice, a new nonprofit insurer (and BC/BS competitor) set up in South Carolina because of Obamacare. Competition!




Insurance Company Celebrates 50 Billionth Fucking Over Of Customer

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