Love it, hate it: Obamacare divides country and region as people watch and wait for change

March 03--Norfolk youth organizer Karen Bailey loves Obamacare; Virginia Beach business owner Laurie Pocock hates it.

It's a divide that mirrors the country: 47 percent support repeal, 48 percent oppose it, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll. President Donald Trump has acted boldly on immigration and defense spending, but he's been slower to tackle insurance reform, saying it's "unbelievably complex."

Like people across the country, many Hampton Roads residents are tracking the issue closely, knowing it could affect their health, their pocketbook, their retirement, even their jobs. Sentiment ranges from worry that Obamacare, known officially as the Affordable Care Act, will vanish to fervent hope that it will. There's also a sizable swath of people hoping that "repeal and replace" will make everything better.

Teresa Boogades, 55, of Portsmouth, falls into that category. She signed up for an Obamacare plan for 2016, but when she found out her premium was going from $267 to $500 a month for 2017 coverage, she decided not to renew.

Now she and her husband are going without insurance, even though he recently was diagnosed with diabetes.

"If I have chest pain, I'm not going to say a thing," she said. "I hope God takes me quickly. I can't afford to go to the hospital."

So far, ideas floated by Trump or Republican leaders include changing Medicaid -- the federal-state insurance for people with low incomes and some disabled -- to a per capita allotment program or giving states options to receive Medicaid funding in block grants.

Other ideas gaining traction are replacing the law's insurance subsidies with tax credits, getting rid of the penalty for not having insurance, developing high-risk pools for people with many health problems, and increasing health savings accounts that allow people to save tax-free dollars for health spending.

Of the approximately 410,000 Virginians who purchased insurance through the ACA marketplace for the 2017 year, 80 percent received financial help. The state opted not to expand Medicaid under the ACA, and legislators are so concerned about getting shortchanged in that program that they've appointed a subcommittee to monitor action by the president and Congress.

A recent Kaiser Family Foundation survey found that 28 percent of people who support repealing the law want replacement details first, and 18 percent want an immediate repeal with the details to come later.

There was a shift toward a more favorable view of Obamacare in a recent poll: 48 percent favorable, 42 percent unfavorable. A question gauging feelings on plans to repeal Obamacare found that 56 percent were worried, 53 percent hopeful, 45 percent confused, 38 percent angry and 33 percent enthusiastic.

Bailey, who is self-employed, supports keeping Obamacare. The 49-year-old mother runs an organization called Youth Earn and Learn in Norfolk. She first signed up for an Obamacare plan for the 2016 year after going several years without insurance. She renewed it for 2017.

The premium did increase, from $40 a month to $70 for 2017, but because she qualified for financial assistance, it was still affordable: "I'm one of those people who rarely get sick, but it gave me peace of mind. If I were to get sick, my kids wouldn't be burdened by the bills."

She said Obamacare is important for people who are self-employed and those with pre-existing medical conditions. She's worried about it going away, enough that she's reached out to her local legislators to preserve it. She sent letters outlining its importance.

"I wanted to know that at the end of the day, I had done everything I could to let them know that there are people who are relying on it," she said. "I'm hopeful that they will come up with something equally good or better."

Pocock, a small-business owner, wishes for a return to pre-Obamacare days. She and her brother and sister own B&H Concrete Construction Corp., a Virginia Beach business started by her family 47 years ago. The company employs 45 people and can't hire many more than that because of the Obamacare penalties for companies with 50 or more employees that don't offer their employees affordable insurance.

Before Obamacare, the company paid for part of employees' insurance. But rates increased enough that they no longer could afford to, and their insurance broker advised them to point employees to the Obamacare marketplace.

Pocock said many of their employees couldn't afford the plans. Also, her own insurance premiums doubled, and her deductible soared.

"That's like getting a pay cut," she said. "I know there are people who say we can't get rid of it, but something has to change. I do believe people should be able to get health care, but the way it was set up ruined it for a lot of people."

Boogades wants a more affordable option. She worked for a bank for 20 years, then for the city of Newport News for six more, before being laid off four years ago. Her husband works in construction and doesn't have insurance. She had always carried him on her insurance.

She said they went without insurance for several years, until the penalty for being uninsured grew so hefty that they looked at plans on the Obamacare marketplace. They signed up for one that started in March 2016.

They didn't qualify for subsidies, even though Boogades makes a quarter of what she used to. They found a plan that costs $267 a month. The deductible was so high -- $14,000 -- that the plan ended up not helping much, even though her husband was diagnosed with diabetes late in the year, meaning he now needs insulin, blood tests and additional doctor visits.

When their renewal letter came, the premium was going up to $500 a month. She called the marketplace counselors to ask if she could qualify for any help or exemption.

"I told them, 'I'm having to use my credit card for groceries and utilities.' They basically said, 'No, you are out of luck.' "

Plans with lower deductibles were running $800 or $900 a month.

They decided to go without insurance.

"You don't hear about everyday people," Boogades said. "You don't hear about the average Joe who can't afford the insurance."

She thinks many people voted for Trump because of the promise of change, and she hopes there will be pressure on his administration to create a better insurance program.

"If he can come up with something that can help all people and not just certain income groups, that would be great," she said. "How can you call it affordable if it's not? Am I supposed to sell the home we've lived in 19 years and move into a trailer?"

Right now, she's not seeing much movement in any direction: "Personally, I think we are in turmoil."

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