With the uproar about computer glitches with the new health insurance exchanges, you would never know that millions of people were about the get coverage at a reasonable cost.
Today, The Boston Globe’s Chelsea Conaboy offers stories on five of them. The story is behind the pay wall. You can look at the pictures, go out and buy the Sunday paper or get a digital subscription.
Much has gone wrong since state and federal health insurance websites created under the Affordable Care Act launched on Oct. 1. Technological glitches have frustrated customers, flustered politicians, and fueled debate about President Obama’s landmark legislation.
Lost amid all the fury, however, have been the success stories.
Many who struggled without insurance are getting it. Others with poor coverage have found better plans. Some whose policies cost a lot, yet covered little, have obtained more comprehensive coverage that — with government subsidies — often costs less.
About 3 million people have signed up for a private health plan through the online insurance exchanges, a senior US health official said Friday. More people are newly enrolled in Medicaid in states expanding that program, which provides coverage to people with low incomes.
Or, check out this story from last week’s New York Times about how the law is having an immediate impact on people who suddenly qualify for Medicaid.
WELCH, W.Va. — Sharon Mills, a disabled nurse, long depended on other people’s kindness to manage her diabetes. She scrounged free samples from doctors’ offices, signed up for drug company discounts and asked for money from her parents and friends. Her church often helped, but last month used its charitable funds to help repair other members’ furnaces.
Ms. Mills, 54, who suffered renal failure last year after having irregular access to medication, said her dependence on others left her feeling helpless and depressed. “I got to the point when I decided I just didn’t want to be here anymore,” she said.
So when a blue slip of paper arrived in the mail this month with a new Medicaid number on it — part of the expanded coverage offered under the Affordable Care Act — Ms. Mills said she felt as if she could breathe again for the first time in years. “The heavy thing that was pressing on me is gone,” she said.
Boston Health News 