AHEAD leadership team member Kerry Bush shares her own personal life-changing/life-saving experience with Obamacare.

I have Asperger’s Syndrome, which (as you may know) is a mild form of autism. Due to this, I have extreme mood swings, and have been on a very expensive prescription mood stabilizer since I was in my teens. I am convinced that medication has saved my life more than once by preventing me from getting so manic depressive that I wanted to kill myself. The one time I ended up in the hospital for attempted suicide, I had missed my mood stabilizer for several days.

When I turned 26 last summer, I was kicked off my parents’ insurance, which meant that either I had to pay for the necessary medication out of pocket (well over $1000/month) or find insurance. I wasn’t working full-time quite yet, so since I obviously couldn’t afford to pay for the meds myself, the Affordable Care Act was my only viable option.

Thanks to the ACA, I was able to pay for my suicide-preventing medication at a cost I could afford while I searched for a full-time job. I am immeasurably grateful to the Affordable Care Act because without it I’m certain wouldn’t be alive today.

Kerry Bush
AHEAD Leadership