Letters to the President: Kristy and the Affordable Care Act

(White House) Every day, thousands of Americans write the President about the issues that matter most to them -- and my job is to help sort through them. This post is part of a series that will help highlight the stories of Americans who have written the President about the Affordable Care Act and what it means to them. Starting November 15, you can visit HealthCare.gov to shop for and enroll in a plan that works for you.
The voices of people across America inform the President and give him invaluable perspective on the progress we ve made -- as well as the work we ve got left to do. If you want to write the President yourself, you can do that here.

Last November, Kristy Borum of Canyon Lake, Texas sat down to write a letter to President Obama about the Affordable Care Act.

For years, Kristy explained in her letter, she had supported herself and her children by driving 18-wheeler trucks throughout the U.S. This job allowed her to provide for her family, but did not provide health insurance. And unfortunately for Kristy, private insurance on the open market was not in the budget. Kristy is on Medicare now, but she wasn t a couple of years ago, before the ACA took full effect -- when she became seriously ill and spent 27 days in the hospital. Kristy had been without insurance coverage for decades—and by the time she returned home from the hospital she owed almost $100,000 in medical bills.
read moreSource: www.whitehouse.gov