Under Obamacare, you can't be discriminated against by a healthcare company for having a pre-existing condition. This is unlikely to remain the case under the Trump administration, which has already started the process of repealing the ACA. We asked people with pre-existing conditions what they're thinking and feeling right now.
Katie, 22, New Jersey
Diagnosis: Psoriatic arthritis
What kind of condition do you have?
I have psoriatic arthritis, and I was correctly diagnosed in September 2015. Compared to other patients, I got lucky; it only took about seven months During that time I saw five others doctor who all gave me the wrong diagnosis, and the wrong medicine. I tried 11 different medications (shots, pills, injections) and all they did was make me throw up. I'm now on a medication that is not FDA approved for what I have, but works and doesn't make me sicker.
Have you benefited from the ACA?
I'm a reporter so having a stable, steady job in one place forever is unrealistic. With the ACA, I knew I could move to a less liberal state, freelance, switch insurers, have flexibility in my life and career, and companies wouldn't be able to deny me coverage or charge me more just because I'm a disabled woman. It let me make the kinds of choices my able-bodied friends take for granted. I'm terrified when I turn 26 I'll become uninsurable but still have to take $80,000 in medications I can't pay for. I'm scared I won't be able to see my doctor, who is out of state and rather expensive. We have no idea what's next, and that scares the shit out of me.
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