I'm 31. I'm happy self-employed, and I get health insurance through my wife who works at a major corporation. I am not one of the millions of Americans who have problems with health insurance.
I know some people who do, though.
People like my friend J. Six months ago, J realized his lifelong dream of starting his own company. It's a lot of work, but I've never seen someone get a new lease on the life the way he has. He's already hired two people.
The only problem for J is that he's currently getting coverage through COBRA, and his previous company gave everyone a gold-plated insurance policy and footed the entire bill themselves. Which is great, except when you have to foot the bill yourself. J is paying $1700 a month to insure himself, his wife, and their 2 year old child. That's insane.
Luckily J lives in California. I've been hounding him about signing up at Covered CA, California's healthcare exchange. He said he was already looking into getting his own policy. Then I asked him if he heard the advantages of being on the exchange -- the federal subsidies and the fact that it's a group policy, so his insurance needs are pooled with everyone else's. He hadn't even heard of Covered CA, let alone these benefits. "Really? Obamacare does all that?"
Now J's in line to save over $1000/month in health insurance. That's money that can go towards his family, his company and his employees.
Last week my wife was visiting her friend L. L lives in Louisana, and she's expecting a baby. She has the kind of job where she's technically a contractor, so although she makes a living wage, she's responsible for her own benefits. She didn't have health insurance until she got pregnant, and then she was able to get a policy, but it was $400+ a month. Her partner doesn't have any insurance at all.
To my surprise wife called me during her visit and asked, "Can you 'explain Obamacare' to L?"
So I went through the same routine. Thanks to Bobby Jindal refusing to set up an exchange in Louisiana, she'll be going to Healthcare.gov, and I cautioned her that it'll probably be a rocky experience at first, but the policies wouldn't kick in until January 1st anyway, and she has until March 31 to enroll. I explained how this is going to almost definitely be cheaper than her current insurance, because of the federal subsidies and again, because it's a group policy, things like being pregnant won't result in a higher premium.
She was ecstatic. Then her partner (my wife apparently had me on speakerphone and he overheard), asked, "Well isn't the penalty $295 or something? I'd rather just pay $295 once than pay for a policy, which will obviously be more than $295." L's partner is a "young invincible." Despite spending most of his life uninsured, he's fortunate enough to not need major healthcare.
Well, first of all, the penalty for the first year is $95, not $295. But I had a few personal anecdotes to share with him, like the time I had to go to the ER for basically stitches, and got a $1000 bill. Or another time where they gave me an EKG for some reason (I had no chest pains or anything) and then I was charged $2500 for that. Luckily, I was insured, and paid very little for it. But all it takes is one broken leg and ambulance trip to the ER, and you're probably gonna get a $20,000 bill. Also, well, he's about to be a father. He already knew his risk-weighting for decision making was going to need to change.
Here's the thing, though. J, L, and L's partner, have never voted in their life. They aren't Republican or conservative at all. They're just confused, or jaded, or frustrated, with a political system that didn't just stop helping people like them, but seemed to actively stack the deck against them. Honestly, I can't blame anyone born within 5 years of me for feeling this way. We grew up in the 90s in a booming economy, and were told to "make a difference" and "change the world," and then we had our 20s bookended by two recessions and stupid wars and financial calamities.
So no, Ted Cruz or John Boehner, we're not going to defund Obamacare. We're not even going to delay it. My generation deserves to have at least one institution in their adulthood be functional and work for the betterment of society, and not just to "increase shareholder value." My generation deserves to experience what it means to have a government that helps people.
This is what Obamacare will do. And this is why why it's a Big Fucking Deal.