Don't Put Millions of Americans at Risk Because You Don't Like Who Started ACA

The ACA has helped me manage chronic depression and fight diabetes.

When I paid for a premium on my husband's work policy six years ago, I was paying $500 a month while continuing to need co-pays for doctors' visits and other services. On our family's income, which falls under $35K, and no option for insurance with my work, we finally decided to drop health insurance for me. I could not afford the doctor's office visits, and the medication I had to take for my depression was so expensive, I was ordering it from Canada and paying out of pocket. I only went to the doctor to renew my medication and avoided getting additional tests.

At this point, having subsidized health care through deductibles and the marketplace, I do have a plan, which only costs $100/month and pays a good portion of my medication expenses. I was able to find that I had diabetes, and have returned to a pre-diabetic (much healthier) diagnosis with the help of my doctor and other medical support for healthier lifestyle choices. I believe the preventive care that the plans support can help lower the costs of many who might otherwise become very sick from conditions, which, had they been diagnosed and treated earlier, would not have become so severe.

I am afraid that we are going to have to go back to the point where we cannot afford health insurance again. Premiums were much higher before the ACA came into effect, and insurance companies had no motivation to be competitive. By all means, if you can improve on the ACA, please do! Just don't put millions of middle-class Americans at risk because you don't like who started the whole thing.