It’s not often that I celebrate the birthday of a piece of
legislation, but today I want to say happy birthday to the Affordable Care Act.
Early in your life you received the nickname Obamacare. Republicans
may have given you this name to mock you, but I say embrace it. Let them call
you what they want, because to me you are, and will always be, a lifeline to
sanity.
You see when you were being drafted and debated I was just a
young journalist, who happened to have a chronic, incurable mental illness. My
only hope for having health insurance was to keep it through my employer.
Unfortunately for me, massive layoffs in the newspaper industry put my ability
to get much needed health care at risk. It’s no coincidence that I got married
less than seven days after I lost my job.
You see, back then I didn’t have access to a health care
exchange, or an open market, that wouldn’t penalize me for having a mental
illness. But today things are different thanks to you Obamacare. Now, I
feel in charge of my own destiny. I don’t have to rely on my marital or career
status to ensure that I will get the health care I need. I no longer worry that
I’ll lose coverage and fall into another deep depression or soar into a
damaging manic state.
Thanks to Obamacare, I feel empowered. Sure, my health care
is still expensive. I’m bipolar; of course I’m going to have medical expenses.
I don’t expect my lab work, doctor’s visits and medications to be free. I just
want them to be within my reach. And thanks to you, Obamacare, they are.
Happy birthday! You are only five and you’ve already made
such a mark on this world. Don’t let those Republicans get you down. There’s no
repealing you, baby.
