I am a young, female, conservative college student. I work two part-time jobs and attend a university full-time. I pay for everything on my own - car insurance, phone plan, food, rent, tuition, textbooks, etc. Any and every bill that comes my way is mine to pay, regardless of whether or not I have the money at the time to pay it. I also am insured through Medicaid. Yes, you heard that right, this staunch Republican uses Obamacare and receives full health coverage through the United States government.
See, the problem with working part-time jobs is that they 1) pay next to nothing, and 2) don't give you any sort of benefits other than the occasional free donut or cup of coffee. Because there's no way for me to afford healthcare on my own, I decided to apply for Medicaid, and I was shocked by the results.
With an average income of $12,000 per year (after taxes), I am eligible to receive 100% coverage through an insurance provider of my choice (I chose Blue Cross). This includes literally everything: urgent care visits, the pill, blood work, and even ridiculously expensive steroids. My copay for a major surgery is 4 dollars. FOUR DOLLARS. After reading these results on my application, I realized why our government is trillions of dollars in debt. I work 30-40 hours a week during the school year while attending college and balancing a budget, and I'm still completely eligible for excellent healthcare. Heck, my dad works on a full-time salary and doesn't have half the coverage that I do.
So you might ask, "how do you in good conscience take advantage of the government?" Excellent question, thanks for asking. Each paycheck I receive has a pretty hefty amount removed for taxes. A portion of that tax money taken from MY income goes towards government healthcare –– the exact benefit program I used last week to pay for my doctor's visit to treat sun poisoning. If I am going to work my butt off to put myself through 4 years of college, you betcha I'm going to get my tax money back in the form of free doctor visits and prescription allergy medication. If I'm eligible for it and show proof of working hard, why shouldn't I be able to use it? Plus, I'd rather the money come back to me instead of the low-life bum who hates work and lives to play video games 24/7.
I'm not against government-funded healthcare. It serves a purpose, and for people like me with no other option other than to take out loans to pay for health insurance (do people actually do that?), Medicaid is doing me a great service. If I were laying around all day, failing school, and up to my chin in debt, I would be ashamed to be known as someone who "takes advantage" of the government. But I'm not. Those who use the government are the ones who are 72 days into foreclosure because they refuse to lower themselves to a minimum-wage position and can't give up their "right" to cable TV. Those who truly exploit the welfare system are those who demand free birth control because it's their "right" as a woman, regardless of whether or not they are employed. The difference between me and the majority of Obamacare recipients is that I refuse to take even one day off work, while they refuse to work for even just one day.
Work hard and collect the benefits you have earned; it's better than your money going to someone who refuses to work because they're lazy and can't stand the thought of spending their day putting together McChickens at the local McDonald's. FYI, I worked there for two years, and it really wasn't that bad. Get a job, pay your dues, and then we can talk about healthcare again.