Profiles of people who would have benefited from the Affordable Care Act's major features, which take effect Jan. 1, if they had been in place in the past were published in the Tampa Bay Times (caution: paywall):
--21-year-old Alyssa Dudley, who at 17 was an uninsured worker in a retirement home when she was shot three times by an ex-boyfriend. She suffered traumatic brain injury. Bayfront Medical Center helped her family get her enrolled in Medicaid, the Times reported, which has covered her hospital bills but not all the intensive therapy she needs. (An earlier article and videoabout Dudley's struggle was published last month.
--Marlys Lenz Cox, 58, a substitute teacher who bought an individual policy from Blue Cross and Blue Shield (now Florida Blue) that went into what the industry calls a "death spiral," with premiums soaring to $1,100 a month. She could not jump to another commercial plan because she had a pre-existing condition: hepatitis C. But under the Affordable Care Act, she was able to grab a spot in a plan for people with health problems for $435 a month, as theTimes reported in an article last year. That plan will be phased out under Obamacare as of Jan. 1, insurers can't disqualify her because of a pre-existing condition.
--Denise Campbell, 59, lost her full-time job and benefits five years ago, the Times reported, and could find only a part-time job in retail. She has high blood pressure and diabetes. While the Affordable Care Act would have paid for her to be covered under Medicaid expansion as of Jan. 1, the Florida Legislature refused to accept the money.