Deanna Sorenson,

49, Mount Pleasant, Utah

I live in a very rural part of Utah, in one of the poorer counties in the state. There are very few job opportunities here, unless you work at the coal mine or the prison. My sister and I have started a small online business. We eke out a living on it, but wouldn’t be able to afford insurance without the subsidies.

If I had to go back to the corporate world to get insurance, I would leave Utah altogether. That would mean I wouldn’t be here supporting small businesses in a struggling rural community. I wouldn’t be providing a supplemental income for the women we have partnered with locally—a stay-at-home mom, a grandmother and a mother of nine whose husband can’t work due to medical issues all bring in extra income through our business that runs as a collective on Etsy.com.

If the A.C.A is repealed, I will not have insurance and would take the risk. If something big happened I would have to declare bankruptcy or find a job in another state that provided insurance. The A.C.A allows people to leave the corporate world and become small business owners!

“It’s Cheaper For me to Pay the Fine”

Joseph Hugues,

62, Little River, S.C.

It would help me. I am 62 years old and I had purchased insurance — the Silver Plan through the marketplace — for 2016 and it was horrible. I live in South Carolina, and the only company offering insurance for 2017 is Blue Cross Blue Shield. I had purchased the insurance, then I found out that they will not cover me at all if I leave the state. I spend 3 to 5 months a year up north. This insurance is useless to me. My premiums were $875 a month and I had to spend $7300 before it even kicked in. I got a refund for my first month’s premium and now for the first time in my life I have no insurance. It is cheaper for me to pay the fine.

“I Would Have Had to Decide Between Food and a Doctor Visit”