I know I harp on this a lot but I think today’s young people who entered the work force after 2010 don’t understand that aside from the very real possibility of not being able to get insurance at all, before the ACA it was easy to get trapped in a horrible job or a horrible marriage because you or your child or your spouse who was on your insurance had a pre-existing condition and would be denied by a new insurer.
The ACA/Obamacare also let them stay on their parents’ insurance until they were 26, which was not the case before that law. The absolute shock that I’ve watched my younger cousins deal with once they lost coverage at 26 has been wild to see, as someone whose twenties were marked by the experience of just not having any health insurance at all. Free birth control is another one, plus free preventive coverage (i.e. no charge for a Well Woman exam).
If only we could go back in time and add in to the law that everyone would be handed a little card that says, “FYI, you just got the thing you got because of Barack Obama and the Democratic Party” every time they experienced an ACA/Obamacare benefit.
Health care reform was a big fucking deal, as Joe Biden very astutely said.
You guys don’t remember when birth control was 100 bucks a month or over 2k for an iud. You guys don’t remember a time before gay marriage. You don’t remember before the Americans With Disabilities Act. It’s so incredibly frustrating to me to see young people act so flippant about something we fought so hard for.
I very much believe this era of history gets neglected in schools and should get more attention but I also at the same time believe young adults, especially ones who are interested in politics, should and can easily learn about this stuff on their own. It’s important! It is really frustrating!
Also seriously look up the history of the ADA. It passed in 1990.
amhrancas 