Tyler Sessions

1/21/2015
Period: 5
The Affordable Care Act
The Patient protection and Affordable Care Act was signed into
law by president Obama in March 2010. Major provisions went into
effect January 1, 2014. Obama's goal was that "everybody should have
some basic security when it comes to their health care." The act will
extend insurance to more than 30,000,000 people. The act consists of
1,000 pages. The affordable Health Care Act is in no way new.
Democratic presidents had unsuccessfully pursued the creation of a
nationwide insurance system for 75 years. The issue this is supposed
to solve is the lack of health insurance among millions of Americans
who cannot afford it. The good thing about Obama Care is that
everyone who does not have health insurance will receive health
insurance, thus helping those who cannot afford their health care. The
bad thing is that it forces those who cannot afford Obama Care and do
not have major health care expenses, to pay a penalty. (Affordable
Care Act history. (2015, January 1). Retrieved January 21, 2015, from
affordablehealthca.com/history-affordable-care-act/)
One of the things used in order for people to purchase Obama
Care was a website. "The official ObamaCare webiste got off to a rocky
start." In order for things to have gone smoothly, the site had to be
functioning properly by December 23rd, 2013, but it wasn't working
that well. Luckily a December 1st, 2013 "fix" had the site working
properly allowing "at least 50,000 users on at a time and 800,000 or
more in a day." By December 24th, over one mllion Americans had
enrolled in plans through the website. That number increased to over
three million by the end of January. That number continued to rise to
an eventual ten million, and continues to rise today. Obama Care Facts.
(2014, January 1). Retrieved January 21, 2015, from
obamacarefacts.com/obamacare-website/
Obama and many other Democrats are in favor of ObamaCare,
While those against it are A Scotus, and many republicans. Obama
Care effects every U.S. citizen in America, but it effects pour and
middle class people the most. (Sargent, 2014) Here is a story of

someone who was positively effected by ObamaCare, and in her own

words: "My husband worked in management at a prestigious law firm
in NY owned by two attorney partners. He built the company with them
from a small office of a few people to hundreds! He never took a sick
day for anything and we even attended each others familes milestone
events. Birthdays, our childrens communions, bar mitzvahs, weddings
etc.. My husband was diagnosed with Renal Cell ( kidney) cancer in
mid-2009 and we then found it metastasized to his bones in early
2010. He worked full time commuting an hour each way to his job
during treatments, many hospitalizations and radiation for 4.5 years. In
September 2013 his company fired him!! For having cancer! We were
left with no income, no medical insurance, no life insurance and went
from a salary of $110,000/year to $21,000. year in SS disability! It was
shameful what they did to him-and to me, his wife! No health
insurance with cancer is a definite death sentence and firing him made
that their decision made early for him! Theyre both unconscionable Aholes after the years he gave to them! I signed up for COBRA-Everyone
thinks that will protect them??!! What a joke! Well, the premium alone
was $2300./ month and that was for the plan we already had that had
a $7,800. deductible and then 10% co insurance up to $11,200. THAT
premium comes to $35,740 per year!!!That is $14,740 more per year
for the premium-than our income! We only had SSD payments! And
since ?Im now caring for him-I cant work either! This is WHY
Obamacare exists! Everyone could be right smack in that same spot at
any time! Two months after he was fired I also found out that I myself
needed oxygen 24 hr day. at 58 years old! Many people think they can
get away without health insurance. Can you get by with no oxygen to
breathe too? I signed us up for January 1 coverage and our life
changed dramatically. My husband passed away at 63 on April 30,
2014 and my insurance continued on (after some turmoil in keeping it
that lasted for months!) Without it-I would be bankrupt! My home
would have been taken! The biggest cause of bankruptcy in the USA
today is medical debt that people simply cant afford to pay." (Name of
woman not specified, Obama Care Facts, 2015). From my point of view
this issue of health care ranks to about a 10, mostly because of all the
people health care effects. I myself have had to have tons of health
care with celiac disease, asthma, and pneumonia, and have seen my
parents deal with paying for it all without health insurance. We are
lucky we didn't lose our house through it all. Had we had health
insurance, we would have been way better off.

If Obamacare were to fail, then millions of Americans would go

without health care and this would potentially be a negative thing as
people with bad health and no health care would have a lesser quality
of life, and not be able to afford their health care. However because
this plan is forcing people who cannot afford Obama Care to either buy
it or pay a penalty, it would be better that it didn't pass because The
U.S.A. is supposed to be a free country. We are not as free when we
force people to do things that make no sense. Thus if Obama Care
were not to pass, we would retain a greater freedom.
If Obama Care works out, and so far it has, then people will
receive health insurance. This would help out every American who
doesn't already have insurance. This would be a good thing because
everyone needs healthcare at one point in their life, and ObamaCare
allows them to receive that health care without paying an arm and leg
for it. We would also gain a greater freedom from negative health if we
all had health care, so in a way, by putting us bondage, we are really
freeing ourselves from pain and suffering.
So from all this we learn that Obama Care can be a good and or a
bad thing, depending on what side of the stick you are on. We also
learn that there are more people who are on the good side of the stick
than on the bad, as most everyone will need health care in their life.
There are far less people who lose money by buying Obama Care than
those who save money.
WORKS CITED
Affordable Care Act history. (2015, January 1). Retrieved January 21,
2015, from affordablehealthca.com/history-affordable-care-act/
Obama Care Facts. (2014, January 1). Retrieved January 21, 2015, from
obamacarefacts.com/obamacarewebsite/http://obamacarefacts.com/2015/01/21/worked-job-35-yearsfired-terminal-cancer/
Sargent, G. (2014, November 14). A SCOTUS ruling against Obamacare:
Health care for the poor, but not for the working middle class? Retrieved
January 21, 2015, from www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plumline/wp/2014/11/14/a-scotus-ruling-against-obamacare-health-care-for-thepoor-but-not-for-the-working-middle-class/