No more lifetime limits
A 2-year-old Mukilteo boy with a rare form of hemophilia has already reached $1.2 million in medical expenses. He requires a drug that costs $1,000 per day, and he could have reached his lifetime limit for insurance coverage by the time he was 5. His mother said she cried tears of joy when she heard the court’s decision. Read the family’s story here.
Anxious after court’s decision
A Monroe small business owner just recently started offering insurance to his employees. He worries that the health care changes are too much, too fast. He would have preferred more incremental changes. He also explains why he thinks more competition is needed. Read his story here.
A struggle to pay
A Lake Stevens man, 66, struggles to pay for his prescription drugs when he hits the doughnut hole in Medicare coverage. Smaller out-of-pocket expenses for his drugs, particularly insulin, will make it easier for him to get by. Read his story.
Mixed feelings
An Edmonds Community College graduate, 25, enjoys being able to stay on her mother’s health care policy. However, she doesn’t like all aspects of the Affordable Care Act. She doesn’t wanted people to be required to buy health care. Read her story here.
Objections to penalty
Emily Harrington, 29, is an Everett Community College student who currently has catastrophic coverage. Harrington said she wished the requirement for everyone to buy health insurance had been struck down by the Supreme Court. She said she’s concerned about the financial impact it may have on struggling middle class families and businesses employing more than 50 people, which also are required to buy health insurance. Read her story here.
The governor’s race
Republican Attorney General Rob McKenna was among those who challenged the health care law. Jay Inslee voted for it as a congressman. But will either of those things matter to Washington voters come November? What political observers think.
Q&A: How the health care ruling affects you
The Supreme Court’s decision to uphold all but one provision in the Affordable Care Act means that for now, at least, one of the most far-reaching overhauls of the nation’s health-care system will be the law of the land. New rules for insurers that have taken effect will remain in place, while new opportunities to gain health-care coverage will begin in 2014.
To read more about the Affordable Care Act, go to our national news page.
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