Happy Belated Birthday, Affordable Care Act!

I realize I’m a bit behind, but the Affordable Care Act (ACA) recently turned three years old in the U.S., and I feel the need to write a post on it.

Because of the ACA, I don’t have to wear these braces on my arms all the time, and I can type as much as I need to!

Three years! Legislation that, for some reason, seemed so tenuous even just a year ago, has been implemented for three years! That is quite an accomplishment, not only for the Obama administration, but for people all over the U.S. We still have a long way to go, of course. For instance, some of our governors are still dragging their feet about expanding Medicaid access and though the ACA significantly expands coverage and the availability of health insurance, it still does not ensure universal coverage for everyone. However, as a speaker at a conference I attended a few weeks ago said, the ACA changes our dialogue around healthcare. Instead of bickering about whether or not we should provide it in the first place, it’s going to make us consider how we’re going to get coverage to people. It may, she suggested, prompt individual states to institute universal coverage, much like Massachusetts currently has, and so we in the U.S. may get universal coverage someday. And that dream seems nearer and more achievable because of the ACA. I sincerely hope she was right.

For the time being, though, the ACA is still something of a controversial subject. Even though the Supreme Court has declared it constitutional and it doesn’t seem like it will be going away anytime soon, mention of the Act will get you derisive snorts and an eye roll from a lot of people, often people who will be helped by this legislation. And there are still lawmakers in Congress who are attempting to cut off funding for the Act, since they weren’t able to kill it in the courts.

So, I wanted to write about how the ACA has impacted me. Because if it weren’t for the ACA, I wouldn’t have healthcare coverage, and for the first time in my life, I desperately need to be able to see a doctor on a regular basis. Just this past summer, I graduated. Without the ACA, I would have been unable to remain on my parents’ health insurance plan. I would have been unable to see a doctor about my carpal tunnel. I would have been unable to see a doctor about my ulnar nerve problem. I’ve started developing other health problems that require medical attention, and without the ACA, I wouldn’t be able to have that care. Not only would I not have access to care, my conditions wouldn’t be treated. I wouldn’t be able to write or work. I wouldn’t be able to be a productive member of society. By investing in everyone’s healthcare through the ACA, we ensure that people can be healthy enough to go to work and contribute to our economy and society. When everyone is physically able to give back to the system, we all benefit.

I know a lot of people who don’t see the ACA that way. And these people aren’t figures on FOX News or talk radio. These people are my friends. They’re my family members. They’re people that have known me for years, and I care about them deeply, and I know that they care about me. So, to my friends and family who oppose the ACA–people that I know and love–every time you complain about “socialized medicine” or “government interference,” essentially, what you are saying is that you want me and people like me to live a life of pain. You are telling me that you want me to have to give up being able to do the things that I love and the things that I need to do to work. You are telling me that I don’t deserve to see a doctor. You are telling me that you want me to I have immobile hands and fingers and an arm too weak to perform even the simplest tasks.

I know you probably don’t see it that way. I know that you probably think of your arguments in abstract terms. But you know what? The ACA affects real people. I am one of those people. I am able to live a healthier life because of the ACA. Because of the ACA, I don’t have to be in pain everyday. And there are millions of people out there who are suffering worse than I am. There are people out there to whom my suffering is like a paper cut, and you know what? Because of the ACA, those people can do to the doctor or the hospital. They can get the care that they need. They can have conditions treated before they become chronic. They can go back to work and resume their normal lives. The woman in remission from cancer was able to switch her coverage when she changed jobs, because the ACA says that she can’t be denied coverage for pre-existing conditions. The man whose old sports injury has come back as osteoarthritis in middle age? He can have coverage too, even if his job doesn’t offer it. The woman who just a year ago suffered such crippling depression that she couldn’t attend her kids’ birthday party? Now she can afford her medication! The ACA is about giving real people necessary healthcare. It’s about taking care of everyone, so that we all benefit. It’s about letting people have a higher standard of living and quality of life. It’s about telling people that they are worth enough that they don’t have to live everyday sick and in pain.

So the next time you complain about the Affordable Care Act, you look me in the eyes and tell me to my face that you think I should live everyday in pain. Me–a person you know and love and who knows and loves you. Could you do that? Could you honestly tell me that you want me to spend my days in pain and unable to work or do the things that I love? Because I sure as hell could never do that to you. In fact, if I knew that you were in pain, I would fight with everything I had to ensure that you didn’t have to be.

The Affordable Care Act has changed my life. It’s about real people, and I am one of those people. It’s allowed real people to have a quality of life they never could have had before.  It’s saved the lives of real people.