I'm now in my early 30s. Many of my friends are small business owners or consultants, individuals who are impacted by the PPACA. Over the last few months, I've been paying attention as they struggle to understand new plans and premiums or enroll on the healthcare.gov website. In other words, I'm trying to learn alongside them as they discover what the new healthcare system means for them. At about the same time I learned I would be teaching English 125 for the Health Science Scholars program, I was following along as my sister enrolled her family through healthcare.gov. Her husband will now be covered for his pre-existing chronic back pain (a definite bonus), but they are concerned about premium costs and are trying to select the right options for them.
I, on the other hand, will stay with my same insurance plan, offered by the University. In fact, I've never really had to think too much about health insurance--except for that brief period of uninsured time between college and the start of my first "real job." I was 23 and I was confident that I was (and would stay) in good health, so I went for about a year without any health insurance at all; but every time I got sick, I felt a little bit nervous. Now, from what I understand, many students won't experience that period of insecurity, since young people can stay on their parents plans for a much longer period of time after college.
This raises a question that I might want to research by talking to college students: College students are some of the primary beneficiaries of Obamacare, but does the switch matter to them? Are they impacted at all, and if so how?
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