#CoverageMatters: Health Insurance Is No Mystery to this Rural Maine Writer

I resented every check I used to send my private insurer. My plan cost $466 a month for me and my two children, and I basically didn’t get anything for it. From 2001, when I first signed on, until 2014, I spent more than $70,000 in monthly premiums, doctor visits, medications and other associated costs not covered by insurance.  But as a self-employed crime writer in rural Maine, I didn’t have much choice.

Until, that is, I was able to check out my options on the Affordable Care Act’s Health Insurance Marketplace. A young man at the Marketplace’s call center helped me find a plan, which after tax credits would cost only $51 a month for my son and me (by then my daughter was on her own plan).

I cried.

My family history made me hyper-aware that I should get a colonoscopy, but I could never afford one on my own. But because of the Affordable Care Act, and my new Marketplace insurance, I could get a colonoscopy as a preventive service at no additional cost.

And thank goodness for that. My doctor found a pre-cancerous polyp that could have become life threatening if it wasn’t removed immediately.

The monthly premium for me alone has since increased to $199—my income fluctuates—but it’s far less than my private plan nearly three years ago and it’s superior coverage. Discovery of the pre-cancerous polyp alone was worth the increase.

I’ve also taken advantage of every appropriate preventive service available, including a flu shot and shingles vaccination. 

I don’t know what I would do if the Affordable Care Act is repealed. I’m in good health, but I’ll need to have further colonoscopies to catch any new polyps early when they are more easily treated. I couldn’t afford $700 a month for a new private plan—if it’s available.

I have friends in rural Maine in much worse straits. And no matter what might happen, I’m urging them, and everyone who is uninsured, to check out their options on the Marketplace at HealthCare.gov and enroll in coverage that meets their needs and is affordable. Open Enrollment for the Marketplace goes until January 31, 2017.

Financial assistance may be available to help you get covered. And you can get 24/7 help comparing plans and enrolling in coverage like I did by calling 1-800-318-2596 or finding in-person assistance in your community at https://localhelp.healthcare.gov.

I’m sharing my story because my #CoverageMatters, just as it does for millions of other Americans. Share your own story on social media using #CoverageMatters.