Larsen Urges San Juan County Residents to Share Affordable Care Act Stories

— from Douglas Wagoner —

Facing a Republican-led White House, Senate and House seeking to dismantle the Affordable Care Act with no plan to replace it, Rep.Rick Larsen (WA-02) is urging San Juan County residents to share their stories about how the Affordable Care Act has helped them or someone they know. Individuals can share their stories at www.larsen.house.gov/shareyourstory.

“I have said it before and I will say it again: I am willing to work with anyone – Republican or Democrat – who is serious about lowering healthcare costs or improving quality of care,” said Larsen. “But if Republicans think they can simply strip away healthcare from millions of hardworking Americans without the faintest idea of what to replace it with – they have got another thing coming. More than ever, Republicans in Congress need to hear from individuals and families in San Juan County who benefit from the Affordable Care Act.”

Larsen will use the stories to help beat back Republican efforts to take away healthcare from the 537,000 Washingtonians who gained coverage thanks to theAffordable Care Act, the up to 2,969,739 Washingtonians with a preexisting condition and millions more whose critical benefits and health costs are at risk.

After hearing from more than 15,000 constituents, Larsen voted in support of the Affordable Care Act in 2009 – citing its improvements to Medicare benefits for seniors, bans on discrimination based on preexisting conditions, and potential to expand healthcare coverage for those who need it most.

*Enroll America & Civis Analytics. (2016, December). Changing Uninsured Rates by County—From 2013 to 2016. Retrieved from www.enrollamerica.org/research-maps/maps/changes-in-uninsured-rates-by-county/

**Yen, Wei & Mounts, Thea. (2016, December). Second Year Impact of ACA on Washington State’s Health Coverage (Washington State OFM Research Brief No. 80). Retrieved from www.ofm.wa.gov/researchbriefs/2016/brief080.pdf

*** U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. (2016, December 13). New Report Details Impact of the Affordable Care Act in Washington [Press release].Retrieved from demcom.house.gov/sites/default/files/HHS%20State%20Press%20Releases%20on%20ACA.pdf

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6 Comments

WILLIAM WRIGHT January 6, 2017 at 5:47 pm

Does he want me to share my story? My old plan was cancelled and my family premiums went up nearly 200% under the replacement. Oh, and we liked our old plan but COULDN’T keep it. Health insurance is now my family’s second biggest monthly expense, second only to the mortgage. We spend more on health insurance then we do on FOOD! And we have a magor medical only plan, with a $10,000 per year family deductible.

He probably dosen’t REALLY want my story.
Don Webster January 7, 2017 at 7:48 am

Rep. Larsen’s statistics are only part of the story.

Since ACA, our health care premiums have tripled and our deductible more than doubled. ACA may have resulted in more people covered in the USA but it has also resulted in incredible premium increases and reduced coverage through step change increase in deductibles.

Repeal and Replace. There has to be something better out there.
Carl Burger January 7, 2017 at 9:53 am

The Narrative continues! If you like your politician, you can KEEP your politician. Now I see a widening gulf between suspect official statistics bureaus (enrollamerica?, ofm.wa?, demcom?) and those of us with genuine ACA experiences. Looks as if Mr. Larsen could be opening a Pandora’s Box with his solicitation of success stories? Crickets?

As for a replacement plan, enhanced individual Health Savings Accounts and the enabling of interstate health insurance plans have long been building blocks for an alternative scenario, reducing governmental interference, promoting efficiency. But the narrative continues. Hey, maybe the next step is to blame it on Putin!
Steve Henigson January 7, 2017 at 1:39 pm

The “Affordable Care Act” has caused us to lose enough of the health benefit structure that my wife, Jean, earned as a schoolteacher, to make our retirement more expensive and our out-of-pocket expenses less predictable than they were before Obamacare came into being.

We have suffered a net loss which has made our retirement less comfortable.

Obamacare is a crock of…well, something unpleasant, anyway.
Thanks, Rick!
Steve Henigson January 7, 2017 at 1:48 pm

Oh… I forgot something…
There are 20 million people signed-up for Obamacare. Think of that: 20,000,000 people!
What a triumph!

Now then, what percentage of the population of the US does 20 million people represent? Can you guess?

It’s six percent! Yup: Only 6%. Of the entire population.
John Davidson January 8, 2017 at 10:06 am

Like everyone else that has commented, our premiums have gone WAY up along with our deductible under Obamacare. $14,000/yr with an $11,000 deductible might be “affordable to Obama, but not for us. Oh, and this year we have a total of “1” choice for insurance – Group Health. You couldn’t dream up a system that is more expensive and complicated. Sometimes the best solution is to just start over from scratch.