The ACA saved my life

For the members of Congress who are moving rapidly to repeal the Affordable Care Act, I share my experience with the law. It saved my life.

The ACA has many critics. Some have called it a disaster, claiming it does not work, premiums are rising, they can't see their doctor, and a list of complaints that seems to go on and on. The new president campaigned on how bad he thought the ACA was and said he would repeal it on day one in office.

Republicans in both houses of Congress cheered his promise, yet after years of hectoring about how bad the ACA is, they still have no plan to provide better coverage. Their party has played on the fears and lack of knowledge of people who have seem premiums rise and blamed it, wrongly, on the law.

My experience with the ACA has been just the opposite. As someone who is self-employed, I have been buying my own health insurance for almost 30 years. Without the law, I would either be dead or broke or both.

Ten years ago, I had a medical emergency. Before the ACA, insurance companies would have considered it a preexisting condition and denied me coverage. Since ACA went into effect, I have, through the insurance exchange in New York State where I lived until recently, been able to purchase health insurance without concern of being turned down.

I have never sought nor qualified for any subsidy. I just wanted the ability to buy health insurance without being held hostage to the rules of insurance companies. New York State made the purchase of insurance easy and painless. Each year that I enrolled, I selected the best plans available to review. In each instance, my current doctor accepted the insurance I ultimately selected.

Prior to the ACA, I had coverage through BlueCross/BlueShield, and my premiums crept upward each year. They started at about $600 a month and had grown to more than $ 800 a month when I was notified that policies would no longer be available for small businesses such as mine. When I inquired whether I could purchase the same plan as an individual, the answer was a clear yes – but at a premium of $1,600 a month.

I was fortunate to find alternate coverage through the New York State Bar Association, but at a premium in excess of $700 a month.

Then came the ACA.

I applied for a policy, and in the first year, my premium shrank to $450 a month. I was happy to pay it, and the doctor caring for my preexisting condition accepted the coverage. Each year thereafter, I re-enrolled as required. Each time, I selected from the top-shelf plans and over the time I participated in the ACA, my premiums only rose as far as $558 a month – a bargain. My doctor took the insurance I selected every time.

During the time I was covered by the ACA, I needed orthopedic surgery. An orthopedist I had previously used did not take the insurance, so I went to another he recommended – with an office on Park Avenue. Using the insurance was seamless, and it covered all the expected costs.

About three years ago, I required surgery for my preexisting condition. Again, all the doctors and the hospital involved accepted my coverage. I was in the hospital for 24 hours and billings by the various practitioners totaled approximately $120,000. Without ACA insurance, I'm not sure whether I could have afforded the life-saving care I needed.

When the Republican leadership, Speaker Ryan and Senator Mc Connell, claim that people are suffering under the ACA, I suggest they consider the millions of people who have been helped by the law, many of whom are alive today as a result of it. Costs have gone up, but inflation is a fact of life. I always enrolled in one of the highest quality plans available, and the premiums were always lower than those I had been paying before the law took effect.

To the members of Congress who want to repeal the ACA, please take account of stories like mine. Your vote can mean the difference between life and death for millions of people. And to those who helped to pass and implement the ACA over the past several years - thank you.

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Kleon Andreadis is an attorney currently practicing in El Paso, Texas.

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