How ObamaCare saved my life and protected my future
At the signing of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in March 2010, then-Vice President Joe Biden famously used a vulgar phrase to explain the importance of the occasion and the new law. From recent personal experience, I can confirm that the ACA is a “really big deal” because it saved my life and protected my future.
The first Saturday of this month was a warm, beautiful day like many are during the summer months in Green Bay, Wisconsin. I went to a Green Bay Rockers baseball game, then to the Green Bay Packers Family Night practice. Later I ate dinner at a restaurant and had a Pepsi at a bar. After watching a few videos I started winding down for bed a little after midnight.
Suddenly, I got a severe headache and I realized something was wrong. I called 911 and the paramedics were at my house in a jiffy. My vitals were fine and tlhey couldn’t see anything wrong, so I said that I didn’t want to go the hospital and that I would just sleep the headache off. Just as they were leaving my driveway, I felt a shock to my system, I lost feeling in half my body, and I hit my knees. I was able to crawl to the door and unlock it so the paramedics wouldn’t have to kick it in upon their return, but I collapsed in the floor and was motionless when they got there.
When we arrived at the Bellin Hospital emergency room after a two-block trip from my apartment, the medical professionals there quickly got to work stabilizing me and trying to figure out what was going on. Results from an MRI showed a tangerine-sized mass in my head. The next day the neurosurgeon, Dr. Kenneth Reichert, identified the mass as a tumor and said it had been growing for up to 10 years. He said that it had to be removed to preserve my life.
There were credible concerns that the neurosurgeon’s attempt to remove the tumor could cause damage to the brain which could cause me to lose my life or lose my physical or cognitive abilities. The prospect of losing my life or losing my life as I have always known it was terrifying. I posted an 18-minute video to social media to say everything I wanted to say just in case I never got a chance to speak again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKlZ8wqLor8
There was an operating room available at Aurora Baycare in Green Bay three days after the initial medical issue. Although I was apprehensive about what the future would hold for me, I put my trust in the neurosurgeon and the many other medical professionals at the hospital. Obviously, I do not remember any of the hours-long surgery because I was under anestesia, but I do remember waking up later to see a longtime friend, Will Harris, at my bedside. When I squeezed his hand and greeted him I knew that I was going to be alright.
The reason I am here to tell the story is that all of the people indirectly and directly involved in my care made it so. I try to avoid hospitals, so I rarely think about these people, but they were there when I needed them and they knew just what to do to help me. The people of Bellin Hospital and Aurora Baycare saved my life, but they could not have if I didn’t have access to healthcare through my insurance coverage with Common Ground Healthcare Cooperative under the ACA, or if you like, Obamacare.
The care I received is priceless in my mind because of what it did for me. All the medical bills are not in yet, but they probably total several hundred thousand dollars. The amount that I will have to pay is a tiny fraction of the actual cost of care. Even after I pay the deductible and any other charges, I will still be indebted to the medical professionals at the hospitals. I won’t have to give them money, but I will always owe them a debt of gratitude.
From a business standpoint, the doctors and the hospitals didn’t have to worry about how my care would affect their bottom lines because I was insured. There were contractual agreements already in place that determine who gets paid how much. Instead of counting pennies, they were able to focus on finding out what was wrong, determining what to do, and then doing it in a way that minimized my discomfort and allowed me to heal for a better tomorrow.
The financial consequences of not being insured can be catastrophic. In 1996, my mother had thyroid cancer. She beat the cancer, but my parents spent basically 20 years paying off the medical debt they incurred because she was uninsured. There was a lot less money in our house for the things we needed and wanted because so much money was going to pay down the debt.
In 2018, my mother had an aneurysm at the preschool where she worked and then spent 9 days in the hospital before passing away. Her medical bills exceeded $500,000, but since she was insured under the ACA, the only financial obligation left to pay was $3,000. The insurance coverage my mother had kept my father from financial ruin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOb10v7KZqw
The difference in outcomes between the two situations I just described should help you understand the importance of everyone having health insurance coverage.
I have been working for the last 20 years to overcome generational socioeconomic disadvantages that have kept me from going where I want to go in life. In May 2022, I finally completed a Bachelor’s degree and in December 2023, I completed a Master’s degree. I have been preparing to apply to law school. In fact, I was scheduled to take the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) at 1:45 p.m. on the day of my brain surgery, but I could not because the surgery started at 1:10 p.m.
In September, I am going to have another chance to take the LSAT. Hopefully, I will do well, go to law school, graduate, pass the bar, become a lawyer, and have a great career. That outcome is not guaranteed, but it is possible because ObamaCare saved my life and gave me the chance to have as bright a future as I can create for myself.
Jarrett Brown is a former longtime food processing worker and workers’ rights advocate. He holds a Master of Legal Studies degree and works in a non-attorney role at a non-profit law firm in Green Bay.