It's been truly wonderful watching the scroll of diaries tagged Health Care, Affordable Care Act, etc. As someone who has been incredibly fortunate throughout my life never to be uninsured, I haven't had much to add but have been celebrating as one after another, my friends report receiving their insurance cards and breaking into tears of relieved joy.
Had an exchange with a friend on Facebook last evening though, that I'd like to add to the reports counteracting the Koch-fueled stories of Obamacare woe and doom. Follow me below the orange dingledoodle...
I've always had a diverse crowd as friends on Facebook... mostly liberals but a crew of conservatives, libertarians, and apathetic folk. Yes, sometimes it's not about the political litmus test but rather the relationship outside that realm that matters :). Anyhoo...
One of my friends (gonna call him Ace) is someone I know from an online community and lives in North Carolina. I have never in the 6+ years I've known Ace asked his political affiliation, and he goes to great lengths to make clear his wall isn't a political space. His wall, his rules (kinda like here) and I respect that. I suspect he leans towards the libertarian philosophy of life, but don't know for sure.
Monday morning, Ace posted the following: "Today, I get to discover how much I get screwed over on something the Government is forcing me to buy. If you think it's great I'm being forced to do this, then great. I accept PayPal and appreciate your assistance."
A friend of his replies with a snarky anti-ACA bit, and my hackles go up. I start typing something only to decide it's Monday morning and I'm not engaging in this pie fight on his wall. So I make a mental note to go back and check for followup, then forget til last nite.
What I saw was a very simple "Got the health insurance thing taken care of. I feel a lot better now."
Hrmm, that suggests it wasn't the evil gummint-forcing-me-to-spend-my-cash experience Ace seemed to be expecting. I scroll to the comments, and see that Snarky Friend has in fact opined that hopefully Ace got a better rate than he did. Because HE went and signed up and 'it said someone just got insurance for $1.11 a month', and he 'sure as hell didn't'.
Ace's reply to that absolutely confirmed for me that his experience had been good: "Let's just say I'm not complaining anymore"
I could have left it at that, "Liked" it and moved along. But I'm sick of people complaining their asses off about "having" to sign up and "how much the Gummint's gonna force me to pay" etc etc. So, mindful of the fact I don't want to spew all over a friend's wall and thus violate the DBAD policy thereof yet still wanting him to OWN the fact that Obamacare wasn't the awful he was expecting, I gently inquire:
"Did you get a good price for decent coverage?"
Yes, yes he did. He was very clear about that, although with no details so I can't offer them up as a data point in all of this. I am at this point doing the Happy Dance of Healthcare Aquisition, and don't want to ruin it by adding in the Endzone Strut of Gloating Asshattery. So I end my participation with:
"I am really glad to hear this Ace. So many people have been reluctant to look into it because of what they'd heard, read or seen on TV, or who refused even to check out their options because of political reasons. You are another in a series of people I know who have been pleasantly surprised at what they found. Cheers!"
See, I want Ace to leave this entire convo up on his wall so that anyone who reads it will see that someone THEY know, someone who was skeptical and cynical about it... got a good deal. Because it's THAT which will get the next person to say "hrmm, maybe I should check it out too, despite what the ad I saw on TV said."
And that's how we win today, tomorrow and next November.
My friend has health insurance today. And while I'll quietly make my point, I'm not going to tell him I told you so. Because the important part is that he has health insurance now.
1:11 PM PT: Wow. Go away for two hours to get K1 to two doctor's appointments a d come back to Rec list? Thank you, and keep telling the stories of ACA success!