White House wants to hear from you about Obamacare (if you agree with them)

I subscribe to e-mails from The White House (like the one below) to keep track of what they are actually saying. Normally their e-mails are recitations of the President's talking points and don't add anything meaningful. However, this time David Simas was soliciting input to prove their case that the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare") is actually working. So, since I involuntarily have new health coverage as of January 1 (that's what The White House was asking for) I decided to submit my own "story." Here's what I submitted:

I am retired. I pay for Medicare but I don't rely on it for quality health care. I have new coverage as of January 1st which I was forced to purchase privately as an individual. I believe I was driven to this largely by one of the unintended consequences of Obamacare which is that large employers will now more easily drop retiree group medical plans (to pay for other costs of Obamacare) citing Obamacare as the backstop for those retirees that employers no longer need to provide.  

My former employer (Cisco Systems) is a large self-insured firm that offers retiree's a "Retiree Medical Access Plan (RMAP)." That plan acted as a supplement to Medicare, providing similar benefits to those I had when employed, and that I continue to want. It cost me $650 / month for myself and my wife. Cisco dropped me from their RMAP plan, in my opinion, because they don't intend to continue RMAP under Obamacare and look for any excuse to terminate retirees. Their pretext for terminating my RMAP coverage was that when (by accident for just one month) I paid the normal monthly premium of $650 on time but I failed to notice and pay a premium increase of ~$15.

By summarily dropping me from their plan Cisco unintentionally put me in the position of having to become an instant expert on health care insurance for myself. That necessity combined with my advancing age got me interested in the subject of health care in general, and lead me to actually study the problem. I'm going to write about my quest to understand the health care problem in this space in the future. But, my bottom line right now is that despite a few good features Obamacare is a fundamentally flawed approach and there are other better approaches.

One of the symptoms of that flawed approach is the Obama administration's lack of transparency about what they are actually doing and what the consequences are. Their solicitation of personal stories is yet another example of that lack of transparency. I discovered when I submitted my "story" that, unlike what we are use to on the Web with open discussions and varied opinions, there is nowhere one can go to see all the "stories" (good and bad...including mine) submitted to The White House except on the pages of their blog. The stories that appear there are obviously hand picked to support the President's case and not to inform the public about what citizens really think.

From: "David Simas, The White House"
Subject: As of today:
Date: January 1, 2014 at 5:02:04 PM EST
To: douglasross01@comcast.net
Reply-To: info@messages.whitehouse.gov
  Americans across the country have new health insurance that starts today, thanks to the Affordable Care Act. 

Today, health reform is real in a new way for people like Daniel, a 22-year-old student who enrolled in a gold-level insurance plan and is paying just $70 a month after subsidies. It's real for Lucy, from Texas, whose deductible is dropping from $7,500 to $3,000 a year, and for Mark, a small business owner who says that keeping his health care costs down will help his consulting business thrive. 

Today, these people are covered. That means welcome packets and insurance cards in the mail. That means new appointments for check-ups are on the books. And it means the peace of mind, security, and dignity that comes with taking your health care into your own hands. 

Making sure more Americans like Daniel, Lucy, and Mark can know that feeling in the weeks to come will take all of us speaking out. So if this means something to you -- whether you have new coverage today or know someone who does -- we want to hear your story. Share it here. 

With the passage of the Affordable Care Act, millions of young adults have been able to stay covered under their parents' plans. Tens of millions of Americans have gained access to free preventive services. More than a hundred million Americans no longer have lifetime limits on their coverage. 

We've still got a lot more work to do. But after all the politics and rhetoric, we know the real bottom line:  Today, for the first time, many Americans for whom insurance wasn't previously a possibility can say that they are covered. And many folks who had insurance previously just saw their coverage improve: As of today, insurers can no longer cut off benefits when an individual reaches an annual cap. Insurers can no longer charge you more just because of a pre-existing condition or because you are a woman. And health plans sold to individuals or small businesses must offer comprehensive benefits, including things like mental health services and maternity care that plans used to sometimes exclude. 

That's what the President has been fighting for, and why this law is so important.
Whether you've got new coverage today, know someone who does, or simply want to help get the word out about the importance of getting covered, we want to hear from you. Share your story here. 

Thanks -- and Happy New Year,
David
David Simas
Deputy Senior Advisor
The White House
@Simas44
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