Affordable Care Act: The Good and the Bad – Story

I was very excited to be part of such a great change in the US. I am a small business owner and an independent contractor which meant that I had to provide my own insurance and with the Affordable Care Act I was able to do that not just for me, but also my employees. Now that is the good and I still think this is a good program, however the implementation still needs a lot of work.

To start with the shop exchange is a disaster, the call center reps cannot help you and everywhere I go I feel discriminated against because I went through the shop. I had many agents and brokers denied working with me if I wanted to go through the shop market place. I even had the broker that help me last email me asking me to NOT refer any clients that were going to use the exchange because they don’t want to deal with it.

Furthermore, last year someone at the shop market place made a mistake (I still don’t know what happened) and they cancelled my insurance after three months. I tried to resolve the issue for months only to find out that nobody will take responsibility and they were willing to restate my coverage but I would have to either pay for the months that my insurance was cancelled or reinstate as new. The first year with the exchange insurance was a nightmare for me and I ended up having to pay thousands of dollars in medical bills for my disable child because someone at the exchange made a mistake. And to make matters worse I had no recourse! I even submitted a complain to my senators, my congressman and nothing. Nobody can help!

Now, at least my insurance coverage has remained for this year, however many providers will not take the insurance. When I call, I get asked if I went through the exchange and I am told…oh sorry we don’t take that. I feel discriminated against because my insurance is through the exchange. To make matters worse, when I need support and call the number on my insurance card for member services, I get told…sorry we don’t deal with people from the exchange.

There is something wrong here! I feel discriminated for using a service that is the law and that should be taken anywhere.

Again, I support 100% the affordable care act, but it needs help! We need to go to a single pay system and implement rules that do not allow providers or insurance companies to discriminate those that use the exchange. I hope this makes it to someone who cares to follow on this story.