http://thinkprogress.org/health/2014/01/02/3110271/americans-obamacare-coverage-january/
On Wednesday, nearly four years after President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act, the major provisions of the health law that serve to expand coverage to millions of Americans officially took effect.Insurers are no longer allowed to discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions, or charge sick Americans higher prices than their healthier counterparts.And now, the Americans who have enrolled in new plans under Obamacare — either by picking a private plan on the state-level marketplaces, or by qualifying for Medicaid in the states that agreed to expand the program — may start using that coverage.According to the Department of Health and Human Services, about six million peoplesigned up for Obamacare’s coverage expansion so far. It’s not yet clear exactly how many of those people gained new insurance on January 1; some of them may not have paid their first premium yet, and ongoing technical problems with the state marketplaces may delay some people’s coverage from kicking in immediately.Regardless of the official enrollment numbers, however, New Years Eve marked animportant milestone for the health insurance industry.“It’s the last day a cancer patient can be told by their insurance company that cancer treatments aren’t covered and it’s the last day people can face limits on their coverage in the future,” White House adviser Phil Schiliro told MSNBC on Tuesday. “That’s just enormous.”
with all the good dripping off that it is what republicans lied and cheated and deceived us into a fear of their label "OBAMACARE", except this is another jaw dropping surprise their think tanks and polls were wrong again, getting to be a habit.
And some of people who woke up to new health insurance options on Wednesday aren’t wasting any time using their new plans.Kathy Hornbach, a 57-year-old breast cancer survivor from Arizona, scheduled a doctor’s appointment for Thursday because she was eager to use her coverage. Hornbach was uninsured until two years ago, when she purchased a plan with monthly premiums of nearly $300, and her new Obamacare plan is cheaper. “It’s a better policy — lower out-of-pocket, more choice of doctors,” she told the New York Times. “This is a very happy day.”Rita Rizzo, a 59-year-old small business owner from Ohio, told NBC News that she’s excited to have access to coverage under Obamacare so she can finally get a check-up. “I’ve been afraid for the last three years to get preventive care, because if they found something, I couldn’t afford to treat it,” Rizzo explained. “I haven’t had any blood work in three years and my right hip is starting to give out.”
be prepared for the right wing sour grape rants they will post disgruntled ones with "horror" stories, most fraudulent and misleading remember Hannity and his fake actors; skulduggery is now a republican gene it affects them when confronted with truth.
