Id like to add my two cents to this discussion because I feel like my familys situation is something that often gets missed. My wife and I have two children, ages 4 and almost 2. Im an educator not working under contract and my wife works in agriculture. Were very, very grateful that we are currently insured via BadgerCare, Wisconsins Medicaid program for low income families. We dont use it much, save the shots and check-ups for the kiddos. But its a godsend, a just-in-case sort of comfort. But heres the thing for us: we dont make that much money. We pay the bills, we live within our means and our family is happy. We dont buy much stuff, and we dont do vacations. We have cut expenses to the bone: no cell phones, clothes get made our bought second hand, we make our own detergent, we preserve a lot of food when its cheapest, our car totally sucks, and we simply do not eat out. But were happy and we feel blessed. One person is always working and the other is at home with the children. And we do just okay enough to get by, unless something goes big-time wrong. And thats how its likely to be until the kids are in school. But the thing is that if we both worked full time plus, it would all go to cover childcare and our income would dictate that wed loose BadgerCare. Essentially, wed make just enough to not be able to afford insurance. Thats absurd. So the options weve been left with are this: both of us to work as much as possible, put the kids in daycare and loose healthcare, or keep our income at a level that at once facilitates a stay at home parent, ensures BadgerCare and excludes our true earning potential, just for the sake of insurance of some kind. All in the name of if something should go wrong. Because if something big goes wrong or something bad happens, its not going to eat the savings -- there isnt any. Well go bankrupt and loose what little we have. With ACA, at least when we get our children into school, (gettin there), and our income essentially doubles, enough to, 1) loose BadgerCare, 2) gain some economic stability and, 3) generate some savings, it wont all get eaten by health insurance costs because we will be able to access the ACA. We didnt set out looking for this set of options, but like a lot of other people, we were young, uninsured, and in love. We got married, had children and then realized just what we were up against.. I think any discussion of ACA needs to address the fact that a lot of families out there, (I know many), have been forced to earn less to prevent the worst. My hope is that since the ACA addresses this dilemma it might be the bedrock of its success.
Posted on: Mon, 28 Oct 2013 10:55:25 +0000
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