Do You Still Feel the Same Way About Healthcare Reform?

The question came up as a we were reading an interesting article on the perspectives of four people who had had strong views on the Affordable Care Act when the legislation was being debated three years ago. At the time, some fought alongside President Obama to get the Affordable Care Act passed, and others opposed it strenuously. Since then, as their circumstances have changed over the last three years, some have modified their views, others have doubled down on their stances, and almost all have family and friends with whom their disagree about the controversial law:

Travis Ulerick is just the sort of person who would be required to buy insurance under the threat of financial penalty starting in 2014.

Ironically, he’s also the person who introduced President Obama at his first White House health care event in March 2009, when Ulerick was a strong supporter of overhauling the system. In his remarks, Ulerick said, “People in my town can’t afford health care costs. They can’t afford doctors’ visits, and they can’t afford ambulance rides.”

Since then, his support for the president’s effort has waned somewhat. He wanted more compromise with Republicans on issues such as limiting medical malpractice awards and combating fraud. And he never imagined that after the bill became law, he would be without insurance.

Ulerick, 28, left his job as a paramedic with the Indianapolis International Airport Fire Department to take a similar position with his hometown fire department in Dublin, Ind. But the new job came without health insurance, and he couldn’t afford COBRA coverage or a new policy on the individual market.

He’s hoping that come 2014, the new health care exchanges planned under the law will help to bring down costs. In the meantime, he’s also hoping that he doesn’t get sick. His only serious brush with the health care system came in 2010, when an accident sent metal into his eye, and he went to the emergency room. “Luckily, I was insured at that point,” he says.

Obama’s health care law from 4 real people’s perspectives

So what about you? Do you feel the same way about the Affordable Care Act that you did three years ago? Tell us about it in our discussion forum!

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