Until early March, my wife was working for a company which provided health care for both of us. She is now retired, and not quite 64 years old, so she decided she had to sign up for the Affordable Care Act, mislabeled "Obamacare."
We had watched the early nightmares suffered by those who attempted to go online and apply in the first couple of months. Then, in the last month or two, we watched as some who had signed up stated that they were very pleased with their plan.
My wife had trouble completing the online process on Nevada Health Link, so she called the "help' number. A very helpful man told her that on Saturday, the 29th of March, she could go to our local community college and receive assistance from eight to twelve in the morning.
We arrived at ten minutes to eight, and there were already over 50 people inside the building. She was given a number and a form to fill out. Her number was called about 8:15, and she was sent to another building and placed in front of computer.
Not being very familiar with computers, she attempted to follow the written instructions, but she was unable to get cooperation from this electronic marvel. A very helpful gentleman came to her rescue. Because she had "completed' the process at home, she had to start from the beginning, the system would not allow her to "go back' and correct errors she knew she had made.
As I said, she is not as good as she would like to be on the computer, so it took a while. She said that all the people in the room were very helpful.
When she came home, she was all smiles. She got a plan with zero cost to us, and dental insurance as well for a cost of just over 16 dollars a month.
She has a high deductible, but we are on fixed incomes, and that is all we can afford at this time. She can re-enroll in October, and if we can afford it, we will pay a small cost and lower her deductible.
As the only industrial country without universal health care, I knew it had to happen. Those of us who understand how the plan works in other countries wanted a "single payer' plan. Big business vetoed the idea through their lobbyists. What we have is a beginning. Time will prove that it is a good idea.
By midnight on the 31st, nearly seven million had signed up for a health plan.
It's a shame that so many falsehoods have been spread about the ACA. The two greatest parts are no-cost preventative care for all, and no one may be refused care who has a pre-existing condition. My wife has asthma, and no one would have accepted her without an enormous premium.
James Turnage
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