Federal Way Obamacare success story actually an Obamacare fail
Nov 19, 2013, 10:50 AM | Updated: Oct 14, 2024, 12:23 pm
A Federal Way woman cited as an example of the success of Obamacare actually proved to be a pretty poor example. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
Taken from Tuesday’s edition of The David Boze Show.
Do you remember when President Barack Obama cited a Washington woman as an example of success of Obamacare?
“I recently received a letter from a woman named Jessica Sanford in Washington state,” said the president. “Here is what she wrote: ‘I am a single mom, no child support, self employed, and I haven’t had insurance for 15 years because it’s too expensive. My son has ADHD and requires regular doctor visits and his meds alone cost $250 a month. I’ve had an ongoing tendonitis problem due to my line of work that I haven’t had treated. Now finally we get to have coverage because of the ACA for $169 a month. I was crying the other day when I signed up, so much stress lifted.'”
She was crying again when after two mistakes from the state exchange, she found out she didn’t qualify for any subsidy.
It turns out her letter was too much too soon. The stress wasn’t lifted, the stress had only begun. She now tells the Washington State Wire: “I’m really terribly embarrassed. It has completely turned around on me. I mean completely.”
Washington state apparently goofed twice with Sanford. She believed initially, she would get a $450 subsidy – that’s when she’s crying, she was so happy about the Affordable Care Act.
But then she gets a letter of her own in the mail. It’s not a letter of gratitude, it’s the state saying oops because they had apparently incorrectly entered her information. So then the state said what you actually qualify for is a lot less. You’ll qualify for about $110 of a tax credit. Then it turned out that was wrong, too. It turned out she doesn’t qualify for any tax credit at all.
Sanford told CNN on Tuesday that without the tax credit, she likely won’t be getting insurance.
“At my rate of pay, with my family size, I just don’t understand why I wouldn’t get at least a little help with a tax credit. It was a huge disappointment. Especially because my story had been shared by the president. I just felt really embarrassed that he had quoted my story,” said Sanford.
“At least, for right now, I’m not going to be getting insurance,” she tells CNN.
Taken from Tuesday’s edition of The David Boze Show.
JS
