YouTube creator Hank Green told President Obama that his medication cost $1,100 per month before the Affordable Care Act. Now, Hank says it costs $5 per month.
This is my argument for for universal health care: Before the Affordable Care Act, a huge percentage of Hank’s income went to paying for his medication, and he had to set aside the rest to cover potential health-related expenses. (People with ulcerative colitis, for instance, are far more likely to get colon cancer, which can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars without health insurance.)
Since the ACA passed, Hank has been able to allocate his resources more efficiently, and rather than having to spend all his money on medication, he’s been able to build Crash Course and Vidcon and SciShow and the Lizzie Bennet Diaries and many other things. Hank now employs more than 30 people.
His work creates jobs. It also grows the economy. And the team of people Hank has been able to hire make videos that are used in tens of thousands of schools around the world. Those videos are freely available to every student and teacher in the world with Internet access, and they always will be.
Hank couldn’t have done that without Obamacare. This isn’t a political or ideological issue to me; it’s about what I believe to be a human right to health care. But I also believe in the end that universal health care is good business, because it lets more people more fully participate in the economy. So every time you watch CrashCourse or SciShow, remember that it wouldn’t exist if Hank hadn’t finally gotten access to good health insurance through the ACA.