Share Your Story: Thanks to the Health Care Law...

So far the health care reforms have done nothing for me. I am hopeful that when the medical reforms are fully implimented in 2014 I will have some coverage. I haven't had medical coverage of any kind in over 17 years. Illinois state is currently tightening rules to eliminate people who currently get Medicaid from being eligible for Medicaid, which as a childless single adult I don't even qualify for even now. I have two more years to wait IF the state actually expands to include folks like me, as the new reform law says they must. And if Republicans take the White House this fall I can kiss that glimmer of hope for coverage goodbye, as they promise to recind the new health care law. There is coverage for people with pre-existing conditions available in Illinois now, but the premiums are over $4,000 for one person per year, which in my opinion is NOT affordable for the average family. I live on less than $4,800 a year working as a school crossing guard (first job I've had to survive a recession in my entire life) so there is no way I can afford this. I have asthma and allergies, with a strong family history of heart disease. I'm supposed to be on 4 different medications which cost over $500 a month out of pocket but I do without and pray I don't have an attack. My sister finally now has coverage through Medicaid as she's handicapped. Prior to that she couldn't find coverage anywhere at any price that would cover her conditions.What am I to do if I'm forced to buy coverage I can't afford? And if I don't buy coverage I then get fined? Do I go to jail then simply for being too poor? I have a strong feeling the subsidies that are talked about too help poor people buy coverage won't be nearly enough to cover the cost at my income level. And I have no transportation to get to a medical facility, so even if I have coverage how do I get there to use it?

My eldest son, who is just turning 21 this year, has had clinical depression and ADD and continues to have difficulty holding down a job or concentrating enough to do academic work, so college has not been an option for him and he has struggled to find his way.  My insurance stopped covering him when he was 19 because he was not in school.  Fortunately the ACA passed earlier that very same year and within a few months he was covered again because the first thing it did was extend coverage to unmarried children up to age 26.  What a relief.  Some kids take longer to become adults than others.  My son can get the medical help that he needs and we do not need to pay outrageous out of pocket amounts. (In the picture, he is on the right.  We love to backpack in our beautiful state of Oregon, and this picture was taken last summer in the Siskiyou mountains.)

My son-in-law died as a result of a motorcycle accident 3 yrs ago.  The family had good insurance through his work.  After the COBRA insurance expired, my daughter looked for coverage.  She had to pay exhorbitant rates because she has Celiac's Disease, (which is controlled by diet, not medication), and a thyroid condition, (which is treated with a low-cost medication).  She finally dropped the insurance because it was so expensive, and didn't cover much.  She is now uninsured.  The two little girls were denied any coverage.  The reason?  Because their father died, and they were in counseling.  How sad.  My daughter and son-in-law had worked and paid into the system for years, so it's not like they wanted something for nothing.  My grandkids were eventually covered by a Healthy Children program, which I understand is covered by Obama's health plan.  I am so thankful for that.

I and all my grown children have benefited from the healthcare law.I am now 65 years old, I worked since I was a senior in high school. Each of my four children have worked long enough to retire if they were of retirement age. I say this to say we are a working family. Each of my children but one, has health issues. Two has asthma and diabetis,one has asthma . The three children require Doctors they could never afford if they had to pay out of their pocket. My daughter is on birth control for heavy bleeding.If she had to pay full price for this, she would bleed to death, she doesn't have the money. She pays a small co-pay which isn't bad. Birth control Pills aren't just for sex.I lived through the turbulant 60's, I know what happens when young women and girls do not have access to birth control, pap smears or even abortions. Back in the day if you got pregnant and needed an abortion you either flew to a state that permitted it or went to some dirty little place to have it done. One would often times get infections and nearly die from unsanitary conditions. Our states are broke. It cost more to raise an unwanted child, that the state, most times, have to pay for, than to use a condom or have an abortion. I think it is wrong for any government to force anyone to have children they can't take care of and don't want. It is wrong to make a young girl hear the heartbeat of a feutus before she can have an abortion, don't they feel she is already suffering? Why guilt trip her into having a child she has decided not to have. Churches need to stay out of peoples bedrooms. The government need to work on getting the people back to work so less will have to dependend on their services to survive. I don't feel that abortions should be a form of birth control, some can take it to far. However prevention is a whole new ball game. Say what you may, about birth control and having sex out of wedlock, Girls and guys are going to do what they want, so let them know how to protect themself. There are worse things out there than having a baby. There is still STD's to worry about. Aids still kill if one doesn't have money. To deny woman the healthcare they need to survive will set this country back to where it was in the 60's. I am old now, I don't have to worry about getting diseases or getting pregnant, but I got kids, I got grand daughters. I will fight to keep them in the position to get what they suppose to have. A woman's rights doesn't seem worth much to all the men in charge these days. I will " Fight the Powers That be"