I wish people wouldn't be so rude to those who lose out under the ACA.

[OwnedByCats]

328. I lived over there for many years

Britain has a great system, despite what some on the right have said about it. It's not the scary system they make it out to be. Of course the ones with the most propaganda about the NHS have never actually experienced it. They aren't perfect (as no system can be), but compared to our system it is! When I moved back home I got a small taste of just how bad things got here in the time I was gone when I got a bill from the lab that processed a blood test I had done. Just a standard test, nothing fancy. I had no insurance and no medicaid. The bill was $800 - just for that. I honestly thought it was a mistake, an extra 0 that shouldn't be there but no, that was the correct amount. My check up with the doctor who ordered that test was $100. Almost 4 figures for one visit to the doctor. I had a seizure and was taken to the ER (resulted from bad reaction to prescribed medication I was on at the time) - between the ambulance and the ER, the whole thing cost $5,000, other than being monitored for a few hours, I only had a head CT to be sure it wasn't more serious, like a brain tumor. In one day I was charged more than 10 years worth of tax money I paid for the NHS, and 10 years worth of copay scripts, combined!

Some people are being helped with the ACA, but others are getting hurt. My parents can barely afford their insurance now and they were told they will have to pay $300 more a month starting Jan 1st. My father went out on disability last year because of his debilitating arthritis, but he's not old enough for Medicare yet and he gets too much in disability to get medicaid, even though my state did expand it. Right now they are using their savings to pay their ridiculous premium, copays and deductibles. That was supposed to be their retirement money. I'm hoping they can find something affordable on the exchange when their policy expires at the end of the year or something because they can't continue to pay this much on their now fixed income. Savings go quickly when you pay 4 figures a month just on the premium, let alone the other costs that need to be met. I won't even go into my situation which is pretty dire too right now. Maybe things can be fixed later, maybe they are planning single payer later down the road, I do not know. I can only hope something can be done.