I pay for my own insurance. I’m 63 years old. Before the ACA, my premiums were going up at about 10% a year. Since the ACA went into effect, they’ve been going up at about 2% to 3% a year. I’m sure the difference is because the ACA doesn’t allow premiums for older people to be more than three times the premiums for younger people. If things had continued in the direction they were going, my premiums would probably be at least twice what they are now (which is still a lot). So, yes, the ACA helped me, probably at the expense of younger people (although the same rule that helped me will protect them from being priced out of the market as they get older).
I have very good employer-sponsored health coverage. Admittedly, I am more fortunate than many in that respect.
My domestic partner worked as a part-timer for a large retail chain. They offered her a very modest health insurance coverage at a very modest cost, and she was glad to have it. When the ACA kicked in, that plan became illegal, and was eliminated. She had no choice but to go to the exchanges. She ended up with a much worse plan for much more money.
So my net assessment, based on personal experience, is that it sucks. But I don’t doubt that others found it advantageous.
Please, give details on what she had that became “illegal” and what she had to take afterwards.
As a self employed person, the ACA really hammered me. I went from a very good, very affordable plan to a crap plan for far more money.
Despite this, I supported ACA because everything I read convinced me I was in the minority and most people did well.
Yes, it helped my family in that my oldest is still on my plan even though she’s no longer in school. The ACA lets adult children stay on your plan until they are 26.
Yes, it helped my family. Not specifically me, as I have insurance through my employer (sucky insurance, but still insurance). My daughter was on my policy until she turned 26 last December. She looked at the insurance through her employer (grocery store) and it was cost prohibitive. She went online to the Minnesota exchange, turned out she qualified for medical assistance. She did opt for dental and vision through her employer.
She’s still confused with the either extremely low copays or no copays. She does sometimes struggle dealing with the county, but the public assistance system is set up to be confusing.
Having medical assistance has allowed her to the ability to get a handle on some chronic issues we were financially unable to afford to when she was on my insurance.
Side note: when the ACA came out, we were all bombarded with “Death Panel” threats. My insurance held yearly panels to decide whether I was worthy of an organ transplant, so GTFOH with that propaganda.
As a retired federal employee, I was able to keep my health insurance for both my husband and me (at a price - our share is almost $600/month) but our daughter and SIL didn’t have insurance thru their jobs. So they and their daughter are covered for a tiny monthly premium, which has been great for them as they continue to search for better jobs. I don’t know what they’d have done otherwise.
Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention in my post that ACA also eliminates the lifetime cap, requires that parents’ plans allow children up to the age of 26, no longer allows plans to punish people with pre-existing conditions … the issues of cost aside, there are lots of ways in which Americans benefit from Obamacare, and will suffer if it is removed.
ACA also requires parity in mental health coverage and care, a very important benefit.
The years I had ACA (before Medicare eligibility) were, bar none, the best insured years of my life.
My wife and I neither benefited nor were disadvantaged by it. My company-provided health insurance hasn’t changed much, although I’m sure some changed for better or worse were driven by ACA.
My nieces and nephews benefitted from it, as did many good friends. So on the whole I consider it a plus even though I’m sure many folks had their situation get worse.
Oh, yeah! It’s amazing that even after all this time, the dems do such an awful job of PR for the ACA. That people still say, “I’m so glad I get health insurance through my employer; Obamacare is such a nightmare” is just ridiculous.
As far as I can tell, no, it hasn’t helped me a bit.
The ACA went into effect just before my daughter returned from a 2-year stint in the Peace Corps. She then went to grad school but was able to stay on my employer-sponsored plan until she graduated and started working full-time.
I retired and went on Medicare on age 65, but my wife is a year younger, so we used the Exchange to find her health insurance. I was somewhat shocked to find that the only options available were high-deductible plans that all cost over 800 bucks a month. Fortunately, we could afford these premiums for a year. I have no idea if the ACA was responsible for this.
Overall, I’d say the ACA helped us, because of my daughter’s situation.
Wife’s medical insurance went from $650 to $950 in two years.
Same carrier and policy.
I’ve had employer-sponsored coverage the entire time Obamacare has been in place, so I’ve never used the marketplace. But I did get a refund cheque a couple of times on the grounds that they were required to spend 85% of the premiums on medical care, and they’d fallen below that ratio.
The plan didn’t meet the minimum requirements of the ACA. The company’s choices were to upgrade the plan, or stop offering it. They chose the latter. She lost her plan, she lost her doctor. Despite Obama’s oft-repeated promises to the contrary.
See? Websites about Obamacare are usually all good or all bad. Even scholarly articles might reflect political opinion since there are so many statistics out there. The brief survey here suggest a mixed bag, maybe somewhat positive views.
It neither helped nor harmed us. For a long time we were insured through my husband’s graduate school and had very good insurance. After he graduated we were forced to find something on the exchange. Because of my mental health conditions we needed something with a lot of mental health coverage. We found what we were looking for, but it wasn’t accepted very many places. So that was annoying.
Then his work offered a good health care option so we selected that. He left that job to start his own practice but we are still under COBRA. Our current plan is ridiculously expensive but it’s good insurance.
I believe there are some good provisions in Obamacare, such as ending denial of coverage based on pre-existing conditions and expanding Medicare. Overall I think it didn’t go far enough, panders to insurance companies and benefits the poor at the expense of the middle class.
No help at all. The first year of Obamacare, my premium increased by 40%. It has not gone down since. While my employer is now paying my $520/month premium - I choose the cheaper of 2 plans - the annual deductible is $5000.
Even with insurance and an HSA, I still have to make careful decisions about which services I can put off. My glasses aren’t as effective as they used to be and I could probably use another exam and an updated prescription, but the current glasses will have to do for now because I really need a new crown for a tooth that is failing. Can’t do both at the same time.
I still hate my able-bodied, educated, but freeloading neighbor who is on Medicaid. Services that cost me hundreds of dollars per event are usually free for him, or he is only charged 2 or 3 dollars.
I really resent him for that, so I can see how these schemes can cause hard feelings.
I no longer have to pay for flu shots. Other than that…