By Trevor Chauvin
“Obamacare is a scam! The site is faulty, and impossible to figure out and navigate! Even Obama couldn’t register his family on the crappy site….”
These are all things I’ve heard about The Affordable Care Act (aka. Obamacare) and the online registration process.
It seemed ominous and impossible to get registered and covered, so I continued to put it off. I had until March 31st anyway. Even though everything I heard about it was negative, I decided to take a look at the site to make a decision for myself. I found the site with ease, and followed the simple steps to register for health care. Then I hit a bump,– the site asked for a projected annual income for 2014. As a server and actor, it’s hard to guess as to how much I will make for any given year.
You have until March 31st to enroll at www.healthcare.gov.
I immediately logged off, frustrated with the lack of assurance. A couple months passed and I completed my taxes and decided it was worth it to give it another shot. Having heath care is something that has hung over my head the moment I was bumped off of my parents generous military coverage. I knew nothing about the systems in the ‘real world’ and it was really intimidating, to be honest. I was excited about the prospect of being able to go get check-ups once a year. It was comforting to think that if I got hurt at the theatre, or came down with a nasty cold, or wanted to finally get on allergy medicine (those who live in San Antonio know how incredibly awful the allergies are here) that I would have the ability to do that. I’m getting older and taking care of my health is getting exponentially more important. Now I’m not saying I am knocking on death’s door, but being healthy and having a doctor to visit when I get sick is something you can’t put a price tag on. The option of affordable health care seemed like a joke, or a distant dream. I needed to make this happen.
So, I took my annual income from 2013 and estimated I would make around the same amount this year. Then I learned something new – you can log back on and change your income at any time. The site is easy to read and walked me through the process step-by-step.
After crediting my sad student/actor/server sad income with a $170 credit per month the site gave me 36 – count ’em. 36! – health care plans to choose from. The first plan had $15 prescriptions, $20 co-pay (totally affordable, right??), with an insurance company I have actually heard of. The monthly payment? $0.03 a month. When I saw that, I hit the back button. That had to be wrong. I resubmitted, and what do you know? That was correct! Three cents for health care! Seven years without coverage, and in about 25 minutes I was covered! Not only was I covered, starting April 1st, but the site then asked me if I was interested in dental coverage. I clicked yes, it then provided 22 options for dental coverage starting at $9.98 a month.
I am now covered, starting April 1st. I have my first two appointments next week! A check up, and a cleaning. Do you know how long it has been since a dentist has seen my mouth? A check-up?!? I must say I have never been so excited to turn my head and cough! I encourage everyone: log on, register, and get covered. It is so easy! You have nothing to lose, except maybe a few bucks a month. Thank you, Obamacare! I must say, I feel safer, covered, and like I a have a plan to fall back on – not to mention how grown up I feel! Go. Now. What are you waiting for?
For information on local enrollment assistance events and help, visit www.EnrollSA.com. To enroll right now, you can go to www.healthcare.gov.
