Sharing stories for the greater good

I’ve been telling Obamacare success stories since 2013, in an effort to elevate the voices of some of the millions of Americans whose lives are being improved — and even saved — because of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

What began as an effort to counteract the malicious misinformation that was being spread by opponents of the ACA has evolved into an initiative to help protect the ACA, which is facing its greatest menace: a President-elect who has promised to turn Congress’ continual threats to repeal the law into a reality.

Not only would repealing or dismantling the ACA pull the rug out from under millions of Americans who gained insurance under the law — many for the first time — it would throw the insurance industry, healthcare industry and economy into chaos. Worse yet, people would literally die from a lack of access to essential healthcare services.

Obamacare isn’t perfect, but that’s no reason to scrap it. Instead, Congress and President-elect Trump should be looking for ways to improve the law, so it can help more people and drive even more improvements in our healthcare system.

Like many Americans, I want to do something tangible to protect the progress we’ve made in the last eight years. Continuing to tell these stories is one thing I can do. I’ve put out open calls for ACA success stories in the past, but I’ve never had the volume of responses that I’ve received since the 2016 election. It’s clear that many Americans feel as strongly about protecting the ACA as I do.

President Obama has asked Americans to tell their legislators not to abandon the ACA. I hope you’ll do that — and, if you’re interested in being interviewed about what the ACA means to you, send me a note via Eclectablog. I’m going to keep telling Obamacare success stories as long as people are willing to share them with me.

You can read my ongoing ACA stories series at Eclectablog.

[Image credit: Will O’Neill | Flickr]