The Truth About Obamacare

A while back, tubby documentarian Michael Moore said Barack Obama was destined to go down in history remembered as being the “first black president,” of the United States, with little else to his credit.

While my faith in Obama has seriously waned since 2008, I think Moore’s estimation is a little harsh, because I’m fairly certain the president will be remembered for his namesake health care reform, rather than the color of his skin.

I don’t pretend to know everything about health care policy, politics, or even the Great Pumpkin. But I do know that on the surface of things, Obamacare has helped my family out quite a bit.

First of all, our health care insurance premiums were $200 a month lower this year – thanks in part to the Obamacare provision widening the pool of insurers from which my company could offer policies. I was able to get into a very large insurance pool offered to a wide variety of federal employees, and that helped our monthly bottom line.

Then this June our son spent a day in the hospital with double pneumonia. We just got our explanation of benefits from our insurer this week (yes, the wheels of bureaucracy still function slowly) and discovered that out of $5,200 worth(!) of treatment (which, as I recall, boiled down to what our son considered to be an unhealthy interest in his urinal output) we’ll only have to pay $676. When I saw that amount I felt like one of Bob Parr's InsuriCare customers.

Again, I have no idea if it’s Obamacare that helped us out like this. We had good chance with previous insurers not to have a claim this big (though it’s a testament to our horrendously expensive healthcare system that I’d think a 24-hour stay in the hospital is a big claim). Maybe our previous insurers would have covered us just as adequately.

I’d rather not find out. Just glad to know we’re not spending more than $1,500 out of pocket on this escapade.