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JUNE 13, 2017
David Mendoza knows how much health coverage matters. It was a hard-won lesson that nearly cost him his life. But it could have also cost his family’s financial security.
Mendoza owns a small tree-trimming business in Miami, Florida. In 2016, while removing tree limbs from the roof of a garage, the chainsaw he was holding slipped and landed on his left arm, severing tendons and major blood vessels. He was rushed to the emergency room where the wound was cleaned and closed.
The accident came just two weeks after he had signed up for a health insurance plan through the federal Health Marketplace. For many years he didn’t think he could afford health insurance. But with the Affordable Care Act, he was able to find a plan where he paid $50 a month in premiums, with financial assistance.
Nearly 93 percent of the 1.3 million Floridians who signed up for an ACA plan in 2017 received financial aid to pay their monthly premiums. One million of these consumers, about 75 percent, also qualified for financial aid to reduce out-of-pocket costs, including deductibles and co-pays for doctor’s visits and medications.
“I had never had an accident like this in my life,” Mendoza said. “So I had never really thought about having health insurance.” As a healthy 35-year-old, Mendoza had never previously experienced any serious illness, either.