No-bama Care

Dear world,

Although I have come to terms with paying the penalty for not having health care, I still felt compelled to write about what I find ridiculous about this new mandate that everyone must have health insurance.

When I realized that the deadline to have health insurance was coming up, I immediately applied on the California Marketplace, only to be disappointed that I do not qualify for "medicare". I thought, "How could this be? I only make about $1700 every month after taxes." The reason they said that I do not qualify for medicare is that I make too much money and am not below the poverty line (under $10,000 for individuals). HOLEY CANNOLI... What kind of world do we live in if making a measly $1700 per month was too much money? I graduated from college June 2013 and had health coverage until September 2013 which means I was covered for most of the year, but that is not enough, they say, to be exempt from paying the penalty. So after reviewing the health insurance plans, I said, forget it, I'd rather pay the penalty. Then I received a letter from Covered California saying that I qualify for some federal assistance. I got SO excited and immediately went back on the website to review the plans again. Then I realized the prices for the plans were already reduced and that if they weren't, I would have to pay around $200 a month for health insurance with an incredibly high deductible. HA HA HA.

So, OBAMA, I want to break this down for you. I make roughly $1700 every month. I spend over $200 alone to pay for toiletries and sundries for my family. I've paid car payments and for gas for a car that isn't even my own. I pay for school clothes and supplies for my siblings. I pay for my gym and sister's gym membership monthly. I contribute to rent. I pay for my own cellphone bill. I pay for my own car: gasoline, car insurance, car maintenance and so forth. To think that YOU think that I can afford to pay ALL of this AND your "reduced health coverage plan" at $80 something dollars a month KILLS me. To think that I am paying a "tax fine" only to help those that CANNOT keep their legs closed or lives together in order to afford health insurance KILLS me. To think that I am being PUNISHED for being a RESPONSIBLE young adult KILLS me. To think that I work hard, only to have my money stripped away from me and redistributed to other undeserving people KILLS me. I don't care that the penalty this year is only $95 or 1% of my income. It's not about the monetary value of the penalty. It is the principle. It is the fact that I am being PUNISHED. That is something I cannot take.

Here is what I have to say to all those hopeful people that want everybody to be the same and live in this "perfect world" in which everybody has access to health care. The REALITY is that we are not all the same. The truth is, there are rich people and there are poor people and the people in the middle get SCREWED. If you want to tell me that the celebrities that live large lives are the same as people like I, who work 9-6 at a meager hourly wage, then I laugh.

If something happens to me during the time I am uninsured, I'd rather just die than to be punished again. I know I don't have it that bad and I know that there are people out there who have families and are being hit hard by this. And I sincerely feel bad for those people.

My only wish in life is that there are stricter requirements in order to vote. You just have to be an 18 year old citizen? I'm dying. I wish that young people like myself were more educated and not so easily brainwashed by great speeches or debates. I wish that those young people that vote can see both sides to every debate and the serious consequences of their actions.


I don't like being punished and I sure as hell don't like being punished when I haven't done anything wrong.

So here's a great big SCREW YOU to Obamacare.

-T