KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Uninsured Americans have until February 15 to get health insurance or risk the tax penalty for 2015. There were some clear winners and losers last year under the Affordable Care Act. A recent Gallup poll found 27 percent of Americans said they were hurt by the health care law, while 16 percent said they were helped.
Five-year-old Devyn takes a medicine that might as well be gold. It costs $74,000 a month. Devyn has hemophilia, a blood disorder. Before the health care law, the only insurance Jaime Hood could get for her son was Missouri Medicaid. She had to pay almost $1,000 each month in medical bills before the plan kicked in.
“We’ve got a very, very large stack of medical bills because you can’t go without treatment,” said Hood.
But the health care law meant private insurers could no longer deny coverage for Devyn and others with pre-existing conditions. He could get subsidized private coverage. His mother is paying less than $100 a month now for his Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City plan.
Hood says it’s made a big difference for her and her partner.
“We’re able to hopefully get married, hopefully purchase a house, do things we couldn’t do before because we simply couldn’t afford it,” she said.
And for Devyn?
“I know that there’s no question that there will be coverage, I think is the biggest thing,” Hood said.
But Melissa McFarland hasn’t gotten such a “kick” out of the law.
“Before, our family, we were paying about $500 a month, but now it’s gone up to $748 for our family,” said McFarland, referring to the health insurance premiums.
The McFarlands are self-employed. She owns three 9Round fitness centers. She says that money could have gone toward the business or family expenses. The deductible rose, too, by more than a thousand dollars.
“I know if something catastrophic happened, we would definitely need it. But I’d almost rather pay out of pocket because we don’t go to the doctor that much,” said McFarland.
She thinks the higher costs are related in part to the law requiring 10 essential benefits including maternity care.
“Don’t need it. Don’t need it so we’re paying for that, yeah,” she said.
She says her healthy family lost in “round one” of the law.
