Woman With Breast Cancer And No Insurance Changes Her View Of ObamaCare

Health care reform has become unpopular because most people fail to understand what is in the Affordable Care Act and have heard many false claims from the right wing noise machine. Most people support most of the provisions, even if they say they oppose the plan. The Los Angeles Times has a report on one woman with breast cancer who changed her mind after experiencing the benefits after losing her health insurance. She had initially believed the misinformation being spread and opposed health care reform, but her opinion changed when she saw the actual benefits. She concluded:

If you are fortunate enough to still be employed and have insurance through your employers, you may feel insulated from the sufferings of people like me right now. But things can change abruptly. If you still have a good job with insurance, that doesn’t mean that you’re better than me, more deserving than me or smarter than me. It just means that you are luckier. And access to healthcare shouldn’t depend on luck.

Fortunately for me, I’ve been saved by the federal government’s Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan, something I had never heard of before needing it. It’s part of President Obama’s healthcare plan, one of the things that has already kicked in, and it guarantees access to insurance for U.S. citizens with preexisting conditions who have been uninsured for at least six months. The application was short, the premiums are affordable, and I have found the people who work in the administration office to be quite compassionate (nothing like the people I have dealt with over the years at other insurance companies.) It’s not perfect, of course, and it still leaves many people in need out in the cold. But it’s a start, and for me it’s been a lifesaver — perhaps literally.

Which brings me to my apology. I was pretty mad at Obama before I learned about this new insurance plan. I had changed my registration from Democrat to Independent, and I had blacked out the top of the “h” on my Obama bumper sticker, so that it read, “Got nope” instead of “got hope.” I felt like he had let down the struggling middle class. My son and I had campaigned for him, but since he took office, we felt he had let us down.

So this is my public apology. I’m sorry I didn’t do enough of my own research to find out what promises the president has made good on. I’m sorry I didn’t realize that he really has stood up for me and my family, and for so many others like us. I’m getting a new bumper sticker to cover the one that says “Got nope.” It will say “ObamaCares.”

I previously cited another woman who reported on the benefits she received from the Pr-Existing Condition Insurance Plan.

Prequel Video To The Doctor, The Widow, and The Wardrobe

Prequel video above for The Doctor, The Widow, and The Wardrobe (this year’s Doctor Who Christmas special)

Huntsman Joins Rest Of Republican Party In Rejecting Science

A conservative columnist recently wrote that Jon Huntsman is not doing well in the GOP nomination battle because of failing to deny science like the other candidates. It looks like Huntsman is taking his advice to reject science and fit in better with conservative voters:

GOP presidential candidate Jon Huntsman shifted his position on global warming Tuesday, telling a conservative audience that there is “not enough information right now” on the issue to formulate policies.

In August, Huntsman drew attention and criticism from the right for tweeting that he believed scientists’ claims on global warming.

“To be clear. I believe in evolution and trust scientists on global warming. Call me crazy,” Huntsman wrote at the time.

But speaking at the Heritage Foundation, Huntsman veered to the right of his former position.

I wonder how long it will be before Huntsman speaks at the Discovery Institute and says he believes that evolution is only a theory and backs intelligent design as a valid alternative.