This week, the House of Representatives took the first steps to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. While we're still waiting to see what will happen, many people have spoken out and explained just how important the ACA was to them. The latest to go viral is from Jeremy Beckham, who sold health insurance in Utah from 2004-2006. In a Facebook post, Beckham explains that during his two years at a major U.S. insurance company, he had to turn people away on a daily basis.
"I had to console people in tears on a regular basis," he wrote. "We were instructed by management to just get them off the phone as quickly as possible to free the phone line for a healthy person."
Among the reasons that he had to decline coverage included pre-existing conditions. The ACA ensured that insurance companies could not turn people away if they had a history of cancer, heart attacks, stroke, and more. Beckham also mentioned that insurance companies could turn people away if they had received any form of mental health care. Diabetes, pre-diabetes, and even obesity and pulmonary disease were grounds for an automatic "DNQ" or "does not qualify."
Fortunately, Beckham explains, pregnant women often qualified for Medicaid. The post has been shared over 25,000 times, which is a testament to how important the ACA is to the many people who have relied on it.
You can read Beckham's entire post, below:
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