I everyone is Sarah Cliff. This is not quite the weeds, though I am here with, was shelter, my heart's hylas we have another episode that other pod cas that we told you about a few months ago. Now we ve spent a lot of time talking about this reporting. I did in Kentucky on a Mamma care and we decided. There is no time like the present to give you a pod cast aside, because I think I've been becomes a lot more, human right when you actually hear their voice says: yes, absolutely wanted it. That we are trying out here on the weeds is taking the policies that Sarah men, as our talk about on the pod cast in going out into the world and seeing how those policies are affecting real people. So we try to do that here and we hope you like it hope you enjoy the show so Liz. I want you to picture the diner. I want you in Kentucky a few months ago. It's

right off. The inner state has a big american flag outside there's all this stuff on the walls like all these trotzky from local sports teams. They support. And sitting in the middle of the dining room. Are these three Obamacare enrollment councillors, so an enrollment counselor is like someone? Are they like volunteers or another? This is their job. There. People who are paid by the federal government to get people signed up proper care, so these counselor Are at stake house and they are signing up the waiters waitresses, all sorts of people, the first worse than we ended up, meaning there was this dishwasher named Brandon Volta and what he calls me work his six foot, none have an end. If you kind of picture it gives us cancer. Michael win. You said you got something in the mail about renewing and then across the table from hand is brand

and in this really old, New York, Yankees sweatshirt, largely so Mama were so. He is there because he was using the medicate expansion. Part of Obamacare, forgot descendants of paperwork and is trying to get. And again she very flexible. We can get you back on track, so I was Medicaid which Brandon has related to Obamacare, so Obama Cure expanded, medicated used to be before the healthcare law you to fall into a certain category to get medicate coverage. So you had like low income and pregnant or low income and disabled, and what Obamacare did is it expanded medical coverage cover every one below a certain income threshold, so that means a whole bunch. More people called I sold under the old system? Brandon probably couldn't utterly not like able bodied grown man barely ever qualify for Medicaid. Now we ve had fifteen million people sign up since medicate expansions our dead cool, so Brandon must be like pretty excited about

wanna hear owner, he gets Obamacare, so he loves medicate expansion, but he is someone who voted for Trump loves trumped. You know too many thought about Obamacare, and he he said Obamacare was was able Given Obama, our money, harder money just that you take a million dollar by case in the Bahamas that a euro military the weapons in the survey me yes, the question I had as I'm listening to brand and talk about this actually won in roman counselor MIKE. He was thinking about chill so how did please for somebody we knew it was threaten our health coverage. Today we are going to try to answer that question the shelter. I am Sarah Cliff- and I M here to tell you about this trip. I took the Corbett Kentucky a few months ago. It's

area that voted overwhelmingly for Trump, but also has thousands of people who signed up for Obamacare and I wanted to understand how those two things together talking to Brand- and I thought I was starting to get it. He was signing up in this room- that had nothing, no signs, no language, no Buddy is mentioning the affordable care ACT or Obamacare until part of the reason why some, unlike Brandon, might be Infused is a kind of marketing failure here at its source is weird thing: words both like a marketing failure and a marketing. When is that, when we talk to the governor, the former governor of Kentucky Steve Bashir, they knew we can talk, he hated Obama care. We wanted to get as far away from the word Obama cares. We could is like I gotta marketing Terry and has been so. He decides here as well.

Today we are going to build a marketplace robotic care, but we are never going to call it Obama, we're gonna, call it connected can Turkey's healthcare collection k why any city obviously take off on Kentucky and connection, and it gave me great we're going of everyone and had like totally seem to work. They signed up a lot of people, I mean we, we went live in Kentucky came out by the thousands by the tens thousands actually by the hundreds of thousands now did you have to make told us. Many people say is this:

Mckenna could say no- and I said: ok, I'm in winter, all intentional obvious scale, and I think there is an idea at some point, be like a hides Obamacare unemployed, whereby there is created and turns out of never have banned and that our own voted to repeal Obamacare, but any theory that derive from so many people was oh, if only they had known and looking back a little paternalistic. Look at these people, if only the understood things better, they would have done this differently.

And I think more importantly, it didn't really prove true Brandon, the dishwasher. He was someone I met, who didn't understand that as insurance came from Obamacare, but he was the only one I met who fit that category? Oh ok, so you met people, I'm curious to hear about people you met, who may be like voted for Trump and knew what they were doing. Pillow Cathay dollar and I wanna reach worker for health care to go so the woman. You surprise me the most was the roman counselor Cathy, whose like super bubbly, lovely lady who just like loves or jobs and Obamacare Roma counselor. She dressed up as a cat of her hall. We designed a buffer insurance at a trick or treating thing. I've just a funny, little kid can't like she did vote for a bomb at twice. I voted form because I knew that he was gonna, even health care and she's even used Obamacare like she doesnt assigned people app. She was on Medicaid for a few months when she was between jobs in and she needed coverage

let's see what Obama's gave me now so MIKE interviewing her and I could have expected over signing give opera Obamacare. You probably supported Clinton in the election, and I know a little care, but I feel, like he's bullied him tromp yeah, but you can just like here it in my voice and a tape. I recorded like I'm very sorry, to keep you work here, said he wandered here. He will, but he came. You gotta have helped ensure, let my belief, I believe in an American. You cannot go without insurance. It's like wants to get ready for him. He just better go to the doktor. Nott have insurance and see what happens you have to have it. Oh wow yeah. We spent a lot of time talking about that. As you can hear it is

asking the same question again and again, but basically a lot of it came down to affordability and prices, Cathy, like signing people up for coverage, but she says the prices are just wait. You high for people in her area? Maybe My Lala world, I just- soon that it would be affordable. Not these outrageous prices. I see every day, and this isn't just true in Kentucky. We saw prices spike now Finally, in Obamacare last year, a new study showing the average price for the cheapest Obamacare plan will jump. Fourteen percent next year was policy spiking as high as sixty four percent in Kathy gets super frustrated by this in her job they're all going to come to me and say we can't afford it. We can afford it and then you're in showing the plants are going to one and then they're gonna go out of their not happy at all. So all of this was

interesting and surprising. To me, this Obamacare enrollment worker who voted for Trump, and I wanted to know where these problems bigger than Cathy. So I decided to tag along for her next enrollment event, which was hospital and that's where I met one of her enroll is daddy mills. You should have got Neil Pathway, brownie and stare just sitting like right, close to each other on this couch behind the computer and looking at what plan stubby is going to sign her family up for in the next. So we have the bronze wrought nail. You haven't you once Ciller, yes, suits Debbie ONS of furniture store. We feel loop of everything, coaches, dishwashers, televisions we have hardware and plumbing and and before Obama CARE health insurance was just too expensive for Debbie and her family. We went there. For, I guess, maybe two years with no insurance. Until this came out, she has used Obama care,

pass your years it's been around and most years her families pretty healthy. But LO and behold my husband get sick. This year, Debbie's husband, you told us, had been diagnosed with Non holler cirrhosis of the liver and actually needs the liver transplant. Right now they speak in great to have health insurance, because I can imagine what it would be like do not have it without the other treatments and thanks to his head to have done. Let me guess who she voted for we ve at thirty, four trump was Debbie aware that she essentially voted to take away her own health insurance, No, I wasn't really sure so. I asked her about that. Are you surprised how much Republicans are talking about repeal it? Did you expect now? Do you think they'll do it or you think they will be too hard? I'm hoping that I don't, because only what would I do that with this go away with?

I will their insurance, it will go away. If ever be. I mean you know, that's what they promised to do in Somebody'Ll Action So I don't know, I don't know what we're do is f if it does go away and you keep saying that I hope not in keeping with what are we to do at you. I don't know our kind of like circling this point, where I keep asking like what they kept saying: they're going to appeal, as they did, that factor and your decision. I guess I thought of it now. He would not Do they ass if they would not do this would not take an interest away, knowing that its affecting so many people's lives. So what's gonna happen is Debbie rate to be over here yeah. I think she does have pretty good reason to be worried.

Public and seem to be really committed to repealing and replacing the affordable care act, and I read it: Their replacement plans and kind of two things jump out. One is they cover millions, fewer people than the affordable care act currently does and second is they are definitely worse for people who are older, licked abbey and people were sicker like her husband. This is Debbie, and I we talked about when I was in Kentucky and it was. It was kind of a hard conversation for both of us and I guess the next four years is going to be different. Yeah it you're scaring me I really want to tell her that she was going to be fine, like everything was going to be. Okay, that's just kind of my human instinct, and I did tell her it's two thousand and seventeen, it doesn't seem, like anything, will change, but after that? We don't really know. I don't know, what's going to happen to these people Kentucky, we don't know what the future of health care for people on Obamacare looks like.

Or Syria. These conversations that you ve had in Kentucky with Cathy and with Debbie. They remind me so much of this phrase from the writer silliness veto, which is that trumps supporters. They took him seriously, but they didn't take him literally. They believed in him as a candidate arm, but they didn't necessarily think he was going to do all this stuff that he said he was gonna. Do yes, there was an example of literally what you were saying from Cathy, the roman work or when I was interviewing her back found out with trompe says a lot of stuff. I just like all politicians promise you everything and then we'll see. I hope I think when you get married, oh honey I'll do some honey I'll do, but it seems like in the first weeks of- Company ministration. Maybe we should have taken him. A little bit more literally came into office, and he quickly

an executive order. That looks a lot like the Muslim travel ban. He promised on the campaign, trail get and he signed another executive order, saying: go ahead, build that wall, and now all these people, how they are waiting to see whether we should have taken him literally on healthcare tale

Thank you so much for listening. This episode was produced by deviant, hassock Bird Pinkerton and was edited by Valerie Le Pen, Ski and Johnny Harris. We also had some great engineering help from Peter Leonard and a famous Shapiro. Please let us know what you thought of this episode loved it hated it. What do you want to hear about next time? You can always reach us at weeds at vocs dot com, and we will see you soon.