A few weeks back, I excoriated the national press for reporting on health care as solely an economic and political issue. I chided them for failing to put a human face on it and talk about people who already are benefiting.

Then it occurred to me that I should put my money where my mouth is, walk the walk instead of just talking the talk. (Insert your own clich here.) So I began to look around San Luis Obispo County for people who are living healthier lives because of the Affordable Care Act. They werent hard to find.

I thought you might like to meet some of them and maybe even use their experiences as a guide to get the health care help you need.

Help with prescription drugs, to cite just one of many examples. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius recently said seniors and people with disabilities in California have saved $340.6 million on prescription drugs.

This is not, however, an analysis of the Affordable Care Act. I am not looking into the pros and cons of the 2,700-page legislation. There is plenty of that sifting already taking place out there.

I know many people fear the ACA, and I leave others to engage in that discussion.

This package is about people.

You can find their tales in the accompanying stories. I do want to note a couple of common threads, however:

You have to fight like a bulldog, as Diane Burkhart put it, to get the coverage to which you are now entitled;

You should, as both Burkhart and Don Funk said, spread the word.

Go here to read the rest:

The Affordable Care Act: Healthier for it