Dear Friends,
This is about health insurance. Please read on, it’s important.
In the New York Times today the lead story is about how one party is turning The Affordable Care Act into a political toy, and before you are taken in by their message, please get the facts. This is your future that is in play.
I take this very personally because as a young family, Ed and I couldn’t afford health insurance. We were self employed, and our income was not enough to afford the huge monthly insurance bill, buying on the open market. And, with Ed treating high blood pressure, and me having been regularly treated for an undiagnosed cough, were had pre-existing conditions that made in impossible for us to get coverage anyway.
So we raised our kids without insurance, dodging a bullet everyday that went by without a serious illness. It affected everything we did. Ed no longer skied. Our kids’ activities were curtailed during flu season. We didn’t understand how much living without health insurance controlled our lives until we were freed from that burden as senior citizens on Medicare.
You are being bombarded by political messages to discourage you from signing up for Obamacare. Before you decide to cave to those messages, please get the facts. Obamacare has been successfully tested in Massachusetts for years as Romneycare. It also had a slow rollout. The big difference is that for Massachusetts, the opposing party, the Democrats, dropped their opposition and went to work to make the plan work for the people. Multiple fixes were needed and were handled quickly and efficiently as they came up.
This program isn’t perfect, but it is better than the system we have. As the Massachusetts model shows, it can be updated and changed as needed, with the commitment and dedication of both parties – we still need to work on that one.
But if you are uninsured, you shouldn’t wait. By signing up you help yourself. And by signing up you send a message to our seriously broken Congress that you want this to stop being a political football.
It may take some time to get through the signup process. Some – a very few of you – may have to pay more for your Affordable Care Act policy than you do for the high deductible catastrophic policy you now have. But if you look at the fine print, you’ll see that you also get more covered. Most of you will receive the peace of mind I raised my family without. You’ll be able to see a doctor when you need to. You’ll be able to get wellness checks you may be avoiding because of the cost. And if, god forbid, something happens, your illness won’t bankrupt your family.
If you depend on Fox News for your news and information, you are not getting the full story. if you depend on news sound bytes from any news agency, you may think that Obamacare is the worst thing since communism. It’s not. If you’re unsure, google the Massachusetts healthcare plan and get some facts.
Please don’t wait to get health insurance until you’re old enough to qualify for Medicare, like I did. It’s too much to risk, now that there is an alternative.
If this moves you to consider taking action please take a moment and let your own friends know. As I said, this shouldn’t be a political issue. Countering the political message must be done friend to friend, one person at a time. But it’s worth it.
Best,
Joanne