Share Your Story: Thanks to the Health Care Law...
Thanks to the health care law...
Share your story and picture on our story blog and read the stories of other Americans who are benefitting from the health care law.
- a mother who is diagnosed with breast cancer can focus on her treatment and not worry about whether her insurance company will drop her because she got sick;
- a young boy who has type 1 diabetes won't have trouble getting health care coverage because of a pre-existing condition or face a lifetime cap on coverage;
- a young woman can go to her gynecologist and get a pap smear without a referral and without paying a co-pay.
These are only some of the ways the health care law is helping women and their families. Share your story and picture on our story blog and read the stories of other Americans who are benefitting from the health care law. Also, watch our blog to see if your story is highlighted.
Want to share your story on Twitter? Tweet @nwlc.
Please note: The views expressed in the stories below are those of the authors themselves and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the National Women's Law Center. All statements of fact in these stories have been provided by the individual authors, and the National Women's Law Center cannot and does not vouch for their accuracy. The Center will compile the stories and may use them, in whole or in part, in our advocacy efforts. The Center also reserves the rights to delete posts inappropriate and unrelated materials to the health care story blog.
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Your Stories
Marilyn Schramm
Austin, TX, Retired
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J
, CA,
When my former employer finally complied with other laws, almost a year late, so my health benefits could continue, I was able to cover my adult child with a pre-existing condition again and get my mammogram, annual physical and related chronic conditions monitoring tests done without having to choose which I could afford the co-pays to get (all were overdue). Given that results indicated treatment revisions were needed, I was thankful for no further delays.
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Linda Mitchell
Clarksville, IN, retired
Thanks to the healthcare law my 22-year-old granddaughter is again covered by her mother's insurance. Unfortunately, she had a kidney stone when she was 19, and there was no insurance. She has an enormous amount of medical bills for someone her age---or any age.
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dorian Sarris
Craftsbury, VT, Mortgage broker
When I left my former insurance behind, and moved to Vermont, I paid the $675.00 a month premium for a while to keep my insurance going, but after a few months, I could no longer pay the premium. I decided to let it go. For the first time in my 56 years, I had NO health safety net!I knew that I had a pre-existing condition, but it was either eat, or have health insurance. Because of the massive health lobbies in this country, it is YEARS before medicines are released to generic options. I found however, that for 1/7 the cost of my medications ($240.00 a month) I could still get their generic equivalents from Canada, which I did. So now after having paid $675.00 a month PLUS another $90.00 a month for my meds WITH health insurance, I was able to stay healthy, and reduce my monthly expenses by $520.00 a month. Over 7 months I saved my family over $3600.00. In our state (which hopes to have single-payer health insurance by 2014), we were able to get on the state health plan with a pre-existing condition, as long as you have not had health insurance for the previous 6 months...PERFECT! I now pay $60.00 a month for Blue Cross/Shield, and my meds cost me $70.00 a month for a total of $130.00 a month. By the way, our state has a balanced budget... It IS possible, if GREED does not get in the way....as usual.
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Anca Vlasopolos
, Michigan, Professor
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Trina Sonnenberg
Nucla, Colorado, Mom
The new health care laws have made it possible for my husband and I to receive family medicaid to help with medical expenses, that we would normally have to pay for out of pocket. Yes, we do have medical expenses. We are not sick, but I take medication daily for a thyroid condition. Our son has ADHD and I require blood tests every three months. The hospital charges $280 to do the tests and the clinic charges $30 just to draw the blood. Without family medicaid, I couldn't afford these tests, or medication and I would end up a burden on tax payers for additional conditions related to my pre-existing condition.My husband has been partially employed since the housing crash (he was a successful bulding contractor)and we are doing everything e can to scrape by. We are losing our house and thanks to medicaid we can at least try to stay healthy. Our savings are gone and we will have no Christmas this year, but at least we can be healthy while others celebrate.
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Rose
Madison, WI, Occupational Therapist
Thanks to the new health care law, my son will not be forced to stay with his current employer to keep his health insurance. He has a preexisting condition which would have prevented him from moving on with his career. Of course if we had single payer employers whould not have to worry about it either.
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Christine Turner
Florida, USA,
Eight years ago, I was drugged and raped while on a business trip. I'm lucky to be alive.
At the time, I was a health insurance agent and when I needed new insurance, I knew how hard it would be to get coverage due to the medical treatment I received for my assault. I needed counseling and preventive anti-HIV medications but the insurance companies didn't care what I needed. To them, being treated for rape qualified as a "pre-existing condition" and they said they wouldn't cover someone like me.
The only coverage I could find would have cost almost as much as my monthly rent. So for three years, I was uninsured. I paid for my counseling, my medication, and all my day-to-day health needs out of pocket. I was lucky I could afford to do that. It wasn't easy, though, and being uninsured was a big worry I faced every day.
The new health care law puts an end to insurance companies treating women like a pre-existing condition. But that's not all — the law is already helping women and their families by providing no-cost preventive health care services, preventing insurance companies from dropping patients when they become sick, and prohibiting insurance companies from limiting the amount of money they will pay for benefits over a woman's lifetime.
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Stephanie Drahan
Washington, D.C.,
When I graduated from college, I was dropped from my parents' insurance plan, didn't have insurance through my job, and couldn't afford my own health insurance. One day, while cooking, I sliced open my hand. I bandaged it and hoped that the bleeding would stop because I knew I couldn't afford to go to the emergency room. When the bleeding wouldn't stop, I finally relented and went to the ER. I ended up with stitches and nerve damage. I never went to see a specialist for the nerve damage because I knew I couldn't afford it. If I could have stayed on my parents' insurance plan (like is possible now due to the health care law) I would have gone to the ER immediately and would have been able to see the specialist instead of worrying more about health care costs than about my health.
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Thao Nguyen
Arlington, VA,
I worked at a very small non-profit job in California that, like many small businesses, could only provide you a stipend to purchase health insurance. I did what anyone in my situation would do — I hopped on to the internet and found a health insurance plan. Even with my stipend, I could barely afford it. To think, all that time I was paying more for my insurance coverage because I'm a woman. The new health care law not only stops the practice of gender rating, but also provides small businesses, like my old non-profit, with tax credits to make it easier for them to provide their employees with health insurance.
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