How Republican Obamacare Lies Nearly Killed A Man

The Republican lies and misinformation about Obamacare have consequences that go beyond politics. In some cases, not believing the GOP can be the difference between life and death.

The details via Philly.com:

Dean Angstadt fells trees for a living.

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He’s a self-employed, self-sufficient logger who has cleared his own path for most of his 57 years, never expecting help from anyone. And even though he’d been uninsured since 2009, he especially wanted nothing to do with the Affordable Care Act.

“I don’t read what the Democrats have to say about it because I think they’re full of it,” he told his friend Bob Leinhauser, who suggested he sign up.

That refrain changed this year when a faulty aortic valve almost felled Angstadt. Suddenly, he was facing a choice: Buy a health plan, through a law he despised, that would pay the lion’s share of the cost of the life-saving surgery – or die. He chose the former.

“A lot of people I talk to are so misinformed about the ACA,” Angstadt said. “I was, before Bob went through all this for me. I would recommend it to anybody and, in fact, have encouraged friends, including the one guy who hauls my logs.”

….

“For me, this isn’t about politics,” he added. “I’m trying to help other people who are like me, stubborn and bullheaded, who refused to even look. From my own experience, the ACA is everything it’s supposed to be and, in fact, better than it’s made out to be.”

Angstadt would probably be dead if he didn’t have a friend who cared about him enough to fight and educate him about the ACA. Dean Angstadt got lucky. He had a friend who was willing to fight to get him to sign up, and he signed up during the open enrollment period.

His story is a reminder that the Republican lies about the ACA have real life and death consequences. Some of the people who believe the Republican misinformation campaign, and don’t get health insurance, will get sick and die before the next open enrollment period begins. It is twisted, but some opponents of the law view every person who doesn’t sign up and gets sick as proof that Obamacare doesn’t work.

The results of scaring people away from signing up for the ACA include crippling debt, people not going to see a doctor when they are sick, or even death.

Angstadt’s experience reflects what’s happening all across this country as people are getting first hand experience with the ACA. The misinformation campaign that is being funded by people like Koch brothers, championed by Republicans, and being spread by Fox News is borderline criminal.

Ignorance could equal death for the millions of Americans who believe the Republican lies about Obamacare, and those spreading the misinformation should be held accountable.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association