When Cathy McMorris-Rodgers posted a call on Facebook for ACA horror stories, I'm sure she expected to see people rise up, shaking their fists over tax snafus and other imagined problems.
What she received was something else entirely. There are many replies, with most telling her to quit attacking it and get about the job of making it better.
Like, for example, this one from a self-described die-hard conservative:
I work for cancer care northwest. We actually have more patients with insurance and fewer having to choose treatment over bankruptcy. Cathy, I'm a die hard conservative and I'm asking you to stop just slamming Obamacare. Fix it, change it or come up with a better idea! Thanks
Or this one:
My story is that I once knew 7 people who couldn't get health insurance. Now they all have it, thanks to the ACA and President Obama, and their plans are as good as the one my employer provides--and they pay less for them. Now, that's not the kind of story you want to hear. You want to hear made-up horror stories. I don't know anyone with one of those stories.
And this small business owner:
I and my husband now have really truly affordable insurance. In the past 20 years, as small business owners, whatever any insurance company offered us as 'affordable' was not affordable in the least, and had pretty high deductibles. I have had nothing but praise for what we have now, and I am sure it could be made a little better with some tweaking, but compared to where we were without---there is no comparison.
I left my own comment, too.
Without Obamacare we would have no health insurance at all. Rates were too high in 2013 for us to continue the policy we had. Our 25-year old son now has full coverage for serious health conditions that he wouldn't have been able to get otherwise because of the old pre-existing conditions exclusions. Last summer, that coverage saved him from bankruptcy and ruin when his conditions flared. As for tax time, it turns out not to be such a nightmare after all. In our case, we actually overpaid by just a bit for our insurance, and in our son's, he chose to pay full price and reconcile it at the end of the year, which increased his tax refund. We are incredibly grateful for the access we have and the peace of mind we now get from knowing we won't lose our home.
It's just too bad she won't actually listen to everyone who posted there. The comments are heartfelt and representative of what so many people feel about finally having access to health care.