The Affordable Care Act puts consumers back in charge of their health care. Under the law, a new “Patient’s Bill of Rights” gives the American people the stability and flexibility they need to make informed choices about their health. --U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

So I go to see my primary care doctor because I have a huge lump on the side of my neck. He takes one look and sends me to a surgeon in his office. Oh, by the way, that'll be thirty bucks (and a bill to the insurance company).

After waiting a month for an appointment, the surgeon walks into the room, takes one look and sends me to a specialist. Oh, by the way, that'll be fifty bucks (and a bill for a couple hundred to the insurance company).

I call to make an appointment with the referral and they say, oh, your insurance won't work here.

So I find a doctor that is in my insurance plan. I wait another month for an appointment. As a courtesy I arrive a little early to fill out the paperwork. I'm kept waiting 2 hours (because his staff is booking patients while the doctor is scheduled for surgery). He walks in, says we need to do tests. 2 minutes later he walks out. Oh, by the way, that'll be fifty bucks (and a bill for hundreds to the insurance company).

I ask the first surgeon to waive the copay. Oh, there's nothing they can do. I ask the second surgeon to waive the copay. Oh, there's nothing they can do.

I call the wheelchair provider that I got my wheelchair from several years ago and explain that I need a new wheelchair because this one is falling apart. And they say that even though the first chair was paid for by Blue Cross and I now have Cigna, they share information and I do not qualify for a new chair.

Long live Obamacare! (I'm sure it will outlive me.)