Another benefit of ACA

I retired in 2013 from a career at Deaconess Medical Center lasting over 30 years, which demanded long hours, frequent overtime and on-call schedules. As a nurse, oftentimes I had to move patients who could not help, might outweigh me, or flat out fought what I was doing to try to help them. My typical work week might include 40 hours scheduled, plus overtime and up to 60 hours of on-call responsibility. I often worked without breaks for twelve or more hours, much of that time on my feet.

My wife is four years younger than me and operated a small business. When I began to consider retirement, we had to make the decision between seeing my Social Security benefit eaten away for her health insurance coverage, or my continuing to work until my wife became Medicare eligible.

With the ACA, I was able to retire at age 67 and we were able to purchase insurance for my wife through the Washington Health Exchange. Otherwise, I was looking at working until age 69 to keep my wife insured. This is not the typical ACA story, but nonetheless illustrates another of the benefits of the act.

Roger Haick

Spokane