How the New Health Care Bill Will Affect Uninsured Americans

On the one hand, I had heard a lot about this new health care bill, but on the other hand, I really haven't heard much. What I'm trying to say is that I had seen it in the news - a lot. However, I didn't really know how health care reform would affect me as an uninsured American, so I did a little research. Here is my story. For a little background, I am a healthy, 22-year-old female.

 I am not married, and I don't have a family to support. However, I recently graduated from college, and my career is just getting started. To summarize, this new bill is all about providing 'affordable, quality health care for all Americans' and 'reducing the growth in health care spending, and for other purposes.' It all sounds good to me. Who couldn't use affordable, quality health care?

Based on personal experience, I know what it's like to worry about ending up in the hospital with no way to pay the bill. All my life, I never once worried about how the hospital and doctor bills always got paid. I got sick and my mom brought me to the doctor

 Dentist visits and eye exams were always covered. Even after I graduated from college and had to buy my own insurance plan through MinnesotaCare, it was extremely cheap (we're talking $30-$40 per month). That's the only way I was able to afford it. Well, about a year ago I decided to move out of state MinnesotaCare doesn't cover people who are living in Fargo, North Dakota, so I had to drop my insurance.

 I planned on finding a new insurance company right away, but that never happened. It's not to say that I haven't tried. I have researched different plans online and even put in an application. Until I found out that the cheapest plan they offered had a $140 premium with a ridiculously high deductible.

 Guess what? Between loan payments, car insurance, monthly rent, groceries, gas, and all the other little bills, there isn't much left over. So now I have been uninsured for almost a year. Fortunately, other than one clinic visit (less than a month after losing my insurance), I have been healthy thus far. When I first read that, starting in the year 2014, every American will be required to be insured (with a few exceptions), I wondered about those of us who can't afford to buy insurance.

 Then I read further to find that people with low-income may be able to get a cheaper rate to cover emergency health care. That's all I would need: a little peace of mind that, should I end up in the emergency room, the bill will be covered. I can save up my own money to cover routine visits, such as eye exams and dentist visits. The good thing is that this new public insurance policy will work alongside private insurance companies, so those of you who are currently insured and don't want to switch will be able to keep your existing coverage. The new health care plan will cover 36 million uninsured Americans in the next 10 years.

 Now, I'm not going to pretend that I know a whole lot more about the new health care bill than I did at the beginning of this article because, from what I've heard, a lot of people were against it in the first place and I still haven't figured out why. There must be another side to the story; however, I see this as being a good thing for most of us.