But in Crystal, Minn., Xochitl Mendoza Ramirez is far from indifferent. She fears that she will lose her coverage: "I felt like throwing up. The past two days, it's been me having these moments of crying at work."
Ramirez, 22, has made good use of the insurance she gets through her state's expansion of Medicaid, the government's program for low-income adults. "If it wasn't for the Affordable Care Act, there's no way I would have gotten my gallbladder out or even gone to the doctor. I just couldn’t afford it." She also relies on the insurance for therapy and medications for bipolar disorder.
Ramirez doesn’t know how she'll get health insurance without the Medicaid expansion. She works two part-time jobs in retail, but neither provides health insurance. Any changes to the law are likely to take months or years before they go into effect, but Ramirez is already preparing for the worst. "As soon as I found out he was elected, I started making phone calls to get an IUD," she said, referring to an intrauterine device for long-acting birth control. She found a doctor to do the procedure this week.
Tuan Nguyen, 38, in San Jose, Calif., has been paying $105 for a subsidized plan on the exchange. Recently, he’s been diagnosed with digestive problems and acid reflux and was pleased that each doctor visit cost him just $5.
"I'm happy with the plan. I'm just sad to have it taken away from me right when I really need it," he said. "If the subsidy goes away, I'll have to pay full price. That's close to $500 or so. I can afford it, but it's something that will definitely take a chunk out of my income. It would be a crunch."
But he's much more worried for his mother, who is being treated for Stage 4 lung cancer and receives her insurance through California's Medicaid program. Nguyen worries that if the Republicans change the way they pay for Medicaid by making it block grant program, as they've promised, the funds for her $8,000-a-month medications could dry up. "I've thought about this the past few days. It's been on my mind like crazy," he said. "Right now she's getting medication that's extending her life. It could allow her to live years instead of months. … Are they going to pull the plug on her medications?"
Rebecca Geitz of Austin, Texas, said her subsidized premiums have been affordable, but her plan "is the most useless thing in the world. No one takes it!" When Geitz, 33, did get sick, her copays were so expensive that she said it was cheaper for her to just pay an urgent care clinic out of pocket. Nonetheless, she said, "I do know that if a serious emergency happened my coverage would help to some degree." If the law is repealed, she worries she may not even have that.
Richard Coppola, 48, believes the Affordable Care Act has been a failure. He pays $378 for a plan with a $2,000 deductible, and his premiums are going up to $480 next year. But still, he said, he was "terrified" about going back to a world without it. He worries about a system where he could be denied coverage for once having a mole removed years ago. He's also concerned about lifetime cost limits being restored and the loss of subsidies for people with low incomes.
"The ACA is a piece of garbage," Coppola said, "but the Wild West before was a lonely place."
Update: This story has been edited to add a reference to survey data on Obamacare enrollees' overall satisfaction with their coverage.
Kaiser Health News is a national health policy news service that is part of the nonpartisan Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. A leader in health policy analysis and health journalism, the Kaiser Family Foundation is dedicated to filling the need for trusted information on national health issues. Kaiser is a non-profit organization focusing on national health issues, as well as the US role in global health policy.
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