By Megan Burks
I’ve been answering your questions about the Affordable Care Act with my series “Second Opinion” for three months now. You’ve thrown me some tough questions, sending me down rabbit holes burrowed by the Internal Revenue Service and the Congressional Research Service, and putting me in touch with smart people from local insurance companies and community clinics.
This series has taken a village – no, an army. So it might surprise you to know I take issue with the notion that the Affordable Care Act is confusing. I think a better word is “intimidating.”
The vast majority of folks I’ve talked to for “Second Opinion” haven’t begun to look for answers, because those answers lie within 955 pages of government regulation.
So we’ve teamed up with Emily Bazar, author of the “Ask Emily” series through the University of Southern California’s Center for Health Reporting, and Voice of San Diego to develop a web application that will help you get the gist of those 955 pages.
It will arm you with the basics. For the trickier specifics, keep sending me your questions.
Update: The House voted this morning to defund Obamacare as part of a measure to keep the government funded – a move that has already been countered by the Democratic-controlled Senate several times. We’re keeping an eye on the story and will continue to help you understand any new developments.