Meet a Republican Who Came To Love Obamacare After Realizing It Will Save Him $13,000

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Butch Matthews is a 61-year-old former small business owner from Little Rock, Arkansas who used to wake up every morning at 4 A.M. to deliver canned beverages to retailers before retiring in 2010. A lifelong Republican, he was heavily skeptical of the Affordable Care Act when it first passed. “I did not think that Obamacare was going to be a good plan, I did not think that it was going to help me at all,” he told ThinkProgress over the phone.

But after doing a little research, Matthews eventually realized how much the law could help him. And on Tuesday, his local Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) provider confirmed that he would be able to buy a far better plan than his current policy while saving at least $13,000 per year through Arkansas’ Obamacare marketplace.

Matthews was self-employed between 1997 and 2010, meaning he had to purchase his own plan on the individual market. He chose a Blue Cross Blue Shield plan for himself and his wife that charged a $250 per month premium and had a $2,000 deductible. But the price of that policy kept rising even as it covered fewer of his costs, eventually devolving into his current rate of $1,069 per month with a $10,000 deductible. At this point, it doesn’t even cover his medication or doctors’ visits — particularly concerning considering he had to have two stents placed in his heart in 2006.

“I do not work now, I’m 61, and we do have assets saved up. But still, to come up with that $1,069 per month….” he said, trailing off. “I went to Blue Cross Blue Shield, and they don’t even sell that plan anymore, but I could not change it to anything else. So I was locked in with it.”

That all changed once Obamacare’s state-level marketplaces opened to the public on Tuesday. Matthews knew that, at his income level, the law would help him pay for insurance. But even he might not have expected just how good of a deal he could get: his new coverage will cost him absolutely nothing in monthly premiums after factoring in federal subsidies, and has a deductible of $750.

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/10/02/2721501/butch-matthews-obamacare-convert/

[Nevernose]

1. And this is what scares the shit out of Republicans

If and when this thing works, Republicans will be exposed for the fiendish, conniving, sons-of-bitches that they are.

[SheilaT]

2. The question I want to ask this man now is,

"So in the future are you going to vote FOR your best interests, meaning for Democrats? Or are you still going to say FU to your self and vote Republican?"

THAT'S what needs to be known.

[Amonester]

11. Can't change Robots...

same as for Stupids.

That is, if *voting* remains possible after the tearorists' CRASH (if no 14th).

[Taitertots]

3. That's why the government is shut down

The success of Obamacare will cripple the Republican party for a generation.

[Thinkingabout]

4. I am thinking this will be the norm rather than the unusual. I also read a facebook

post today, "I just read some interesting facts about Obamacare. Like the government will be able to access your bank account. If you are on social security you will be required to attend End if Life Seminars. After age 76 you won't be able to get cancer treatment."

the rw bunch just don't stop and those who listen to them jump into a panic about lies.

[BillyRibs]

9. Call it by it's real name,

The Affordable Care Act, and most of the Negative opinions do an about face! These poor folks are so misinformed.

[leftstreet]

5. How did he have $1,069 a month to burn, delivering sodas?

That must have been a good paying gig

[alittlelark]

6. It said he was a 'small business owner' he likely had employees.

[leftstreet]

8. It says he got up at 4am to deliver them

That's why I wondered

But you're probably right, he owned the business also

[alcibiades_mystery]

10. You can make damn good money if you've got a truck and an established route

I worked for a soda and a Tropicana guy in high school, both small business frachisees. They were both pulling in north of $125,000 / yr. The Tropicana guy paid me $9/hr for the summer, and that was damn good money for a high school kid in 1990. Of course, they made payments on the truck and the rest, but if you own the route, you do OK. And yes, both those guys got up to work at 4:30.

[Samantha]

12. You have written the perfect thread at the perfect moment

Congratulations.

Sam