(Above: Dothan resident Allyson Strickland tells Fox News host Greta Van Sustren her ObamaCare horror story)
Allyson Strickland, a homeschooling mother of four whose husband works in the construction industry, appeared Friday on Fox News’ “On the Record with Greta Van Sustren” program sharing that her family’s premiums have more than doubled from $440 to $920 because of plan changes forced by ObamaCare.
“We’re not really sure right now what we’re going to do,” Strickland told Van Sustren. “The economic situation in our family’s finances has been extremely tight over the past year and insurance just wasn’t something I thought I would be concerned with. But now it has definitely become an issue to our family and we’re looking at different options — but frankly we don’t have very many options.”
Strickland said they were prepared to receive a slight increase under ObamaCare, but were shocked when they received word from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama that their premiums were doubling.
Strickland was among the first to respond to a request by Rep. Martha Roby, R-Montgomery, for stories illustrating personal difficulties related to health care law changes. Rep. Roby said responses continue to pour in from Alabamians experiencing insurance plan cancellations and rate hikes, some of which she plans to highlight this week as legislative remedies to the issue gain traction.
“I appreciate Allyson and all the others who have contacted my office sharing personal stories about how ObamaCare is affecting their families,” Rep. Roby said. “Specific examples of how this law is harming people in a real way allow me to be a more powerful voice for positive change in Congress. I encourage anyone who hasn’t shared their story to go online and submit it.
“I believe a majority of Republicans and Democrats support commonsense changes to the law, but we are fighting an uphill battle because this is President Obama’s signature law,” Roby continued. “The more real-world stories like Allyson’s we can share, the better we can demonstrate on a national level the compelling need to offer Americans relief from this law.”
Despite President Obama’s well-publicized promise of “if you like your health plan, you will be able to keep your health plan,” thousands in Alabama and millions across the country are facing health insurance cancellations or skyrocketing costs. Rep. Roby is co-sponsoring the “Keep Your Health Plan Act,” which would ensure individual policy holders who like their healthcare plans are truly allowed to keep them. Similar proposals are surfacing in the Senate, and former President Bill Clinton said in a recent interview that “even if it takes a change to the law, the president should honor the commitment the federal government made to those people and let them keep what they got.”
Rep. Roby on Thursday debuted an online form to make it easy for constituents to share their personal stories. Additionally, individuals are invited to share their ObamaCare stories with Rep. Roby on Facebook orTwitter, by email, or by calling Rep. Roby’s Washington, D.C. office at 202-225-2901.
Follow Cliff on Twitter @Cliff_Sims
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