For my interview about the affordable healthcare act I interviewed my sister. She is a year older than me and does not quite understand the act. However, her boyfriend is someone who does not have health insurance so she is vaguely familiar as he is in the process of applying for health care. Talking to her, my view on the act sort of changed. Because I heard of the struggle that her boyfriend was going through, it made me feel bad for all the others who have never been able to afford healthcare options. My sisters name is Jenna and she is a student at Mass College of Pharmacy. Being in the healthcare field, she should have probably known a little more about this topic, however, she was not too informed about it. After talking briefly about the act, she told me that she thinks it is very important. Her boyfriend has been without healthcare for the past several years. He was never able to afford it, even though he worked full time. It has been difficult for him to get doctors appointments and he hasn't been to a dentist in years because he does not have one because of not having insurance. Now that the affordable healthcare act has been passed, her boyfriend can now have insurance and feel safe in case of an emergency. This puts my sister at ease, as well as him.She is definitely for this act. She believes that it is a good thing for people who are struggling to afford health insurance and that everyone should have a chance to have insurance. She strongly believes that every person should have a fair chance to having the best healthcare that they can have. After talking with her, I realized that its not just lazy people who don't have health insura nce. There are just some jobs that don't offer insurance and hard workers may not be able to get it that easily. With this act, an affordable insurance is made for each and every person.
Lexi's Interview and Reflection:
Name of person interviewed: Matt (my boyfriend) who works in the health care industry.
Interview:
Q: Is this an issue you think is important? Why?
A:Yes, because it provides everyone a chance to receive
affordable health care.
Q: Do you think others in our community think this is an important issue? Why/ why not?
A: No because Massachusetts already has an alternative solution for affordable health care, Mass Health.
Q: What are the advantages of this policy?
A: People can save money on health care and it allows for the larger population to have health care that is affordable for them.
Q: What are the disadvantages of this policy?
A: The Affordable Care Act is going to effect
insurance companies, it is going to take away members because they may be
offered a cheaper solution with the Affordable Care Act. If employees do not select the package their employer is offering the employer will lose money. On top of that every American is paying into the Affordable Care Act even if they are not insured under it.
Q: What disagreements, if any, exists in this community?
A: Many people are probably wondering why we should have to pay into this insurance act when Massachusetts already has affordable health insurance.
Reflection: Matt made several good points about companies loosing money if employees chose the Affordable Care Act over they company policy. It also worries me that with the Affordable Care Act lowering insurance prices, they are hoping it will cause private insurance companies to lower their prices as well and could that mean loss of jobs for people in the health care industry? I agree that it is hard to think about that fact that every American will be paying into this act even if we are privately insured. Although I am for this act, I feel that we really will not know the actual advantages and disadvantages until a few years from now when this act has been in place for a little longer.
