Almost five months ago, the South Carolina Policy Council,The Nerve’s parent organization, published a policy analysis explaining what exactly the federal Affordable Care Act – “ObamaCare” – will mean for South Carolinians. The answer, in abbreviated form: A number of tax and premium increases, physicians leaving their field, stultification of the job market, a high potential for privacy invasions, and a possible expansion of Medicaid through the back door (with consequent further tax increases in the future).
With citizens now beginning to feel the consequences of the federal law, we asked The Nerve’s readers to tell us how ObamaCare is affecting their lives.
“Because of ObamaCare our insurance kept going up,” writes one reader who wished to remain anonymous. “We already had a very high deductible ($10,000), and we were paying higher and higher premiums – they increased 68 percent. At that point I said, No more – we’ll just do without. When you’re paying for something that’s just a waste, at some point you just have to say: Enough.”
From Paula Kinziger of Lake Wylie, South Carolina: “We just received our new insurance rates under ObamaCare for next year. We had a basic plan with a reasonable deductible, 80/20, with an HSA cash pay for most issues that saved us 25 to 50 percent on cash payments. Now our monthly rates have quadrupled and our deductible has gone to $12,700 instead of $3,000 (60/40). Not only is ObamaCare unaffordable for us, my husband’s employer pays 70 percent for our insurance. It will make everything more costly, not just insurance – and put producers out of work.”
“We don’t have our rates yet,” writes Beth Fann of Simpsonville, “but the flex cap of $2,500 hurt us last year and this year. And our rates have skyrocketed over the last two. We’ll know more by November 1.”
John Pence, resident of Charleston, writes: “Well, Blue Cross will be canceling mine and my wife’s policies, although we were perfectly happy with them. ‘If you like your policy, you can keep it.’ Ha!”
“I will have to change policies with BCBS,” writes another. “My current policy is not “healthcare compliant.” If my current policy is cheaper I may keep it until next July or August but then I have to pay the higher premium for worse coverage.”
Clearly, Americans are past the point at which they could argue about ObamaCare in the abstract. It’s a reality. If you’re willing to tell us some of the practical ways the Affordable Care Act has affected your life or finances, send us a message or comment on this article.