Woman Used By Obama as ObamaCare Success Story Now In Fact Cannot Afford Health Insurance After 'System Error' - 'You Majorly Screwed Up'
What was previously touted by the White House as a big ObamaCare success story and an example of what everyone could expect, has now turned out to be a typical ObamaCare nightmare, after Washington state single mother and self-employed court reporter Jessica Sanford recently found out an error had been made and she has since been priced out of being able to afford insurance under President Obama's new health care system.
Sanford was seen by the nation being used as an example by Obama during a speech that was delivered in October in the White House Rose Garden, as the president boasted about what the American people could expect under the Affordable Care Act.
"I am a single mom, no child support, self-employed, and I haven't had insurance for 15 years because it's too expensive," President Obama said, reading from a letter he received from Jessica Sanford during the Oct. 21 speech
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"My son has ADHD and requires regular doctor visits and his meds alone cost $250 per month," the president continued. "Now, finally we get to have coverage because of the [Affordable Care Act] for $169 per month. I was crying the other day when I signed up. So much stress lifted."
Since that time, the Obamacare rollout has turned into a near-farce, and not only have hundreds of thousands of American been unable to register for the new Obamacare services, but even the single-mother's tale of joy has turned into one of anger and frustration.
Sanford's initial joy as promoted by Obama was short lived after the state of Washington later informed her that the state's health care website she used to sign up for health insurance, known as the Washington Health Benefit Exchange, had wrongly calculated her eligibility for financial assistance, and so ultimately she would be required to pay a much higher premium in order to receive health coverage under the new ObamaCare system.
The notice came shortly after the president's address, with the Washington state health exchange stating that her new monthly premium would be $280 a month for a "gold" plan - nearly double her initial quote.
Unfortunately the bad news regarding her health coverage did not end there. Local reports indicate that last week Sanford once again received a notice revealing the state once again had made a mistake. This time it was an error with determining a tax credit she previously was told she qualified for.
After the correction her health premium climbed to $390 per month for a lower grade "silver" plan with a higher deductible - a price she says she simply cannot afford.
"I had a good cry," she told CNN. "This is it. I'm not getting insurance. That's where it stands right now unless they fix it."
Now the single mom and her son are left without health insurance, and under the Affordable Care Act, face a $95 penalty if they do not sign up, leaving her in a worse position than they started in.
"I am so incredibly disappointed and saddened," she wrote on the state health exchange Facebook page. "You majorly screwed up."
Sanford insists that she still wants the ACA to work and does not blame the president, whom she voted for twice, instead she blames the issues surrounding her insurance troubles on the state of Washington.
Sanford was not the only person affected by Washington's health care miscalculation. Some 8,000 residents in the state were given notices that the insurance premiums or tax credits they were initially given were actually due to a "system error" and so they would be facing higher costs as a result.
