My Experience with the Affordable Care Act has been great. With the escalating prices of health insurance steadily increasing each year, the Affordable Care Act. in my opinion, came at a time when the nation really needed it! This act which was signed into law five years ago and nicknamed “Obamacare,” basically provides much more affordable health insurance to Americans while improving the health care system overall. Similar to others, my husband and I were initially skeptical that we could afford insurance even under this new law. However, our present life and luck changed one fateful day on a busy highway in Atlanta!
In many ways, we could be considered the average middle class family, but in other ways, we experience financial challenges like so many other Americans. My husband and I are both self-employed and had been without insurance for years, at least not on a regular basis. The only person in the household who had consistent insurance was my son, who happens to have asthma also. Even without this condition, we still would have made sure he was covered even if we were not insured ourselves.
It wasn’t just the high cost which deterred us previously, but my husband is also diabetic and this disease made it very difficult to obtain insurance. If it wasn’t just a outright denial, then the insurance price would be over-whelmingly high to accommodate the expected complications of diabetes. Even on none self-employment jobs, the company’s insurance was so high, we simply could not afford it. Even for just myself, a relatively healthy person so far, the cost seem excessive. It was not until one day, on the highway, when my husband saw a Humana advertisement, offering extremely low cost insurance that we begin taking action.
After applying through a fairly simple online process, we are now insured by Humana POS and our premiums are less than $20 a month!
This Open Access and National Pos of Georgia plan has allowed us to drastically reduce our medical expenses while choosing from numerous in-network providers. In addition to our monthly premium, we pay a $35 copay for doctor visits, $60 for specialists, and $100 for urgent care centers, which are great alternatives to crowded emergency rooms.
One of the most beneficial things to me about the Affordable Care Act is preventing and screening services are now free of charge. With a family history of breast cancer, my aunt and great-aunt are both survivors, this became even more alarming to me when my sister was diagnosed. I am now able to get yearly mammograms, as needed, without worrying about the cost of this procedure.
I believe the best part of this Act and what has been the most helpful to us, is individuals with pre-existing conditions can no longer be denied coverage and premiums can’t be raised due to your health status. So, after years of denial or outrageous quotes due to his diabetes, my husband and everyone else in our household are finally insured. Just as important as the physical benefits are the emotional ones, we not only have great health insurance now but “peace of mind” also!