Rolling Stone - "Six Stories of Obamacare Already Making a Difference"

[TomCADem]

The MSM is somehow managing to ignore the thousands of people who have been able to obtain coverage as a result of the ACA. I happen to know people who have managed to sign up for coverage after having been denied due to pre-existing conditions, yet somehow the cable networks are incapable of finding any of the thousands of people have been able to enroll for the ACA.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/six-stories-of-obamacare-already-making-a-difference-20131016

Obamacare is a disaster! It's the worst thing to happen to the country since slavery! It will rape the future of our young people! It will cause wives to leave husbands and husbands to marry their dogs! OK, I made up the dog part – but all the others are, sadly, 100 percent real statements made by right-wing extremists in the last few weeks.

But despite the hand-wringing and rumor-mongering, and despite some gleefully reported website glitches, around 45,000 people across the country have already enrolled in the insurance program set up by the Affordable Care Act, with the actual enrollment deadline still almost two months away.

For those who have enrolled, many of whom were previously uninsured or were hit with massive co-pays, Obamacare is a total success. Here are just a few of their stories:

Phil Sherburne and Leia Bell
This Utah family will pay just $123 a month to cover their family of five, despite a shoulder issue that had left Sherburne unable to get insurance before the Affordable Care Act went into effect. According to Sherburne (who is also a small business owner), the multiple efforts it took to get onto the federal exchange website were well worth it. "It's a great deal. I'm thrilled to have coverage, period," he said to the Salt Lake Tribune. "Once I got onto the site it took about an hour, start to finish."

[1StrongBlackMan]

1. But ... But ...

my friend's girlfriend's brother's co-worker's favorite bartender got an email from a close friend that said ...

[bmbmd]

2. Okay-here's a story from the trenches.

My patient-let's call her Mary-has diabetes, heart disease, morbid obesity, cor pulmonale, osteoarthritis, and chronic osteomyelitis of the left lower leg. Three years ago, her husband reached retirement age and his job was terminated. He has a good pension, and insurance for himself, but Mary's insurance premiums would have been over three grand a month. Mary and David are proud people, and "not beholden to charity". Even though I could see them at no charge, medicines were expensive. We helped with samples when she asked, but mostly she was under the radar for three years.Imagine my surprise when she arrived in my office last month, David at her side, and announced that her insurance had been reinstated. Out of the blue, she received notice that her premiums had been reduced to $350 per month. She is 63 now, will be eligible for Medicare in 18 months, and jumped at the chance to be covered again. 350 is a lot of moolah, but it's also a lot less than $3000. I asked them if they understood what had happened-both attributed it to good fortune. I'll never forget the expression on David's face, topped with a Vietnam veteran baseball cap, as he came to understand that even interest North Texas, Obamacare would bring precious relief to those who need it most.

[Skip_In_Boulder]

3. Well if it hadn't been for the Medicaid Expansion program

that rolled out in Colorado last year I would have been dead 6 months ago.

[flamingdem]

4. There will be many more positive stories

This is really a big f**king deal. I'm thrilled it happened, especially looking at the crazy people who would do anything to stop it..