In 2014, AL.com is looking beyond political battle lines to examine how the Affordable Care Act is affecting the cost, availability and quality of health care in Alabama. We asked what it means to you, and you've responded.

Hundreds of Alabamians have shared specific personal experiences with AL.com that explain why they're in favor of the law or against it. These stories are helping to guide and inform our reporting.

Here’s a closer look at one experience:

Name: Anita Stiefel

Age: 50

City: Fort Payne

Her situation: Stiefel, a college instructor, said she had had a personal insurance plan from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama since moving to the state in 2010. She said the company annually increased her premium and then announced last year that a new plan compliant with the Affordable Care Act would rise more than $100 a month, to more than $300. She said she discovered that she made slightly too much money to qualify for a subsidy on the health care exchange but found a better policy from Golden Rule Insurance Co. outside the government-managed marketplace.

What it means: Stiefel said it was not easy to find Golden Rule, a UnitedHealthcare subsidiary. The company does not participate on the exchange.

“You have to dig and dig and dig,” she said. “Anybody that didn’t have the gumption to do what I did got left behind.”

But Stiefel said the end result was good: She ended up with a policy that was $50-per-month cheaper than her Blue Cross plan, and it includes vision care and a $50,000 life insurance policy. She said the company offered far more customization than Blue Cross.

“It was amazing the choices that they had,” she said.

Her view: Stiefel said she strongly favors the Affordable Care Act, even though she did not qualify for a subsidy. She said she has heard people grumble about the law without even checking to see if they qualify for a better deal through the exchange.

“I told everybody I could on Facebook to do it,” she said.

She said she believes many people have misdirected their frustration over canceled insurance plans and rising premiums on Obamacare when it really should be aimed at the insurance companies.

“I think the insurance companies are corrupt,” Stiefel said. “Health care shouldn’t be set up for profit.”

The bigger picture: Tens of thousands of Alabamians lost the insurance plans they had because the Affordable Care Act deemed them "substandard," as a result of inadequate coverage. Many faced higher premiums under similar plans that qualified under the new law.

Many ended up getting better deals because they qualified for subsidies on the health care exchange. A single adult making up $45,960 can get subsidized health plans.

Most Alabamians who sign up at healthcare.gov, though, mainly have the same Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans that the company offered them in the first place. In a few counties, Humana Inc. also offers plans on the exchange.

Not every insurance company is participating in the government-run marketplace, though. It is possible to buy insurance from companies outside the exchange, and for folks who make too much money to qualify for a subsidy, one of those companies might be the best option.

Updated at 10:01 a.m. to correct a quote. Stiefel said she she was referring to health care, not insurance companies, regarding profit.