Applying for Health Insurance: Before and After Obamacare
While politicians argue incessantly around President Obama's healthcare system overhaul, one thing gets frequently lost in the din: Does Obamacare actually improve America's healthcare system.
One popular Republican talking point asserts that the Affordable Care Act is unnecessary at its core because it replaces a system that was just fine the way it was.
John Green of Vlogbrothers fame decided to put that trope to the test by signing up for health insurance twice: Once using the "old" system (i.e., through a health insurance provider), and once using Obamacare's newly launched "Health Insurance Marketplace."
What Green found was that, despite HealthCare.gov's acknowledged glitchiness, it took him less than an hour to sign up for insurance.
By comparison, the "old way" took over twice as long and would have likely taken much longer had Green not come prepared to answer 25 pages worth of invasive medical history questions ranging from "has the applicant received a moving violation" to "has the applicant in the last 10 years discussed surgery."
Green says the only question he was asked while applying for insurance through Obamacare's marketplace was "whether I smoked."
Though Green, who is well versed in healthcare matters, notes that it is still too early to weigh in on the cost differences between the two systems, but his straightforward comparison of the application process makes it clear that Obamacare will certainly make it easier for the millions of uninsured to get the insurance they need, and the long-term effects of a healthier populace are priceless.
