The Henrys Liked Their Insurance Plan — But They Couldn’t Keep It
Dallas Henry is a small business owner in Saline County, Arkansas. Before Obamacare took effect, he and his wife had a health insurance plan they loved, purchased through Arkansas Health Networks (AHN). But after the implementation of the disastrous health law, AHN ended their program and the Henrys lost their coverage, leaving them only one place to turn — the Obamacare exchanges.
Under AHN, the Henrys were able to get an affordable plan (page 2 here) that fit their needs:
I started my own heat and air business in 2011. We had no health insurance. I heard about Arkansas Health Networks through the state for small business owners. So we checked into it. What we had was 6 doctor visits a year, 7 days of hospitalization a year, 2 major outpatient procedures a year, 2 prescriptions a month with a $15 copay, and we had a $100 deductible with a maximum out-of-pocket of $1,000, and our premium was $50 a month.
Henry said he’s in good health, but his wife recently found out she has a chronic disease. Fortunately, their insurance was allowing them to address these problems in a cost-effective way:
I’m in good health, I’m not taking any medications, but my wife went to the doctor and found out she has sugar diabetes. So she gets on medication and everything’s rocking along good — she went for 5 visits, I went for one just for a general checkup.
However, last October, the Henrys got this letter (page 2 here) from their provider saying their plan was being terminated. “We got a letter in October saying that the program was being discontinued and that we needed to go to HealthCare.gov to check on other insurance options,” Henry said.
What Henry found at HealthCare.gov shocked him:
When we got on the Obamacare website, I had to take a screenshot of it because I was absolutely blown away.
The cheapest plan that Dallas Henry was eligible for? $977 per month in premiums with a $12,600 deductible — a plan that multiplied their monthly premium by nearly 2000%. As Dallas put it, “Basically I’ve got to have around $24,000 of medical expenses in one year to break even for paying for this.”
It’s important to note that they recently found out that they qualify for an Obamacare subsidy, which theoretically brings their premium payment down to a paltry 500% of what it was before Obamacare.
The Henrys are hesitant to accept the Obamacare subsidies, though, and with good cause:
I find out we qualify for a $700 per month subsidy, but…that would be $277 per month with still a $12,000 deductible and $277 a month, that’s still five times the amount we were paying for our premiums. And then we find out that if you accept the subsidy, you’re passing the point of no return. So, basically the net result of all of this is that we’re back to where we were before we had insurance with really no prospects of getting insurance until my business grows some more and we can afford $300-$400 per month.
Finally, Dallas had a message for President Obama:
Thank you Obama for being so truthful. I liked what I had — I thought I could keep it? He can say he misspoke, he can say whatever he wants to — he intentionally deceived the public along with Congress. They knew that this would happen.
Unfortunately, this story is just one of the millions of stories of Americans who have had their health coverage destroyed because of Obamacare. If you have a health care story you’d like to share, please contact us at via our Contact Page.
Notice: This story was updated at 9:30 pm, February 17th to correct a transcription error from our interview with Dallas Henry. An earlier version inadvertently said Dallas had an out-of-pocket cost cap of $50. The correct number is $1,000. We apologize for the error.
