Truck driver explains what a disaster Democrats' Obamacare has been for him and his family

Matthew Garnett:

So often I hear the health-care crisis discussed in generalities and abstractions. “Premiums are skyrocketing.” “Deductibles are gargantuan.” “The co-pays are outrageous!”

While that’s all true, that sort of talk is largely meaningless to me, and probably you as well. I want to scream, “You have no idea!” So if you’ll indulge me, I’ll give you a concrete, albeit anecdotal, example of what “skyrocketing premiums,” “gargantuan deductibles,” and “outrageous co-pays” look like on the ground for a blue collar, middle-class truck driver.

I work for a really great trucking outfit. I love the job. They provide us with top-notch equipment and plenty of miles. (For those of you not familiar with truck driving, miles equal money.) However, if I elected to buy health insurance for my family of four through my company, I would take a salary cut to the tune of about $25,000 a year. That’s on top of my employer paying approximately one-fourth of the costs, about $6,000.
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So if I want health insurance, the tab for me is a little over $2,000 per month, plus $500 if you add my employer’s contribution. Comparatively, then, my monthly payment for my daughter’s school tuition is cheap, at about $425 a month. Anyway, does that $30,000 a year go toward actually paying for any health expenses we incur? Nope. The deductible is five large!

We have to meet that before our meds or anything else will be covered. Until then, we have to co-pay on all meds and medical treatment. For my inhaler for asthma, I pay a $55 co-pay. Retail cost of the inhaler? $63. Without going into the grisly details, on average we have about $400 in medical expenses per month among the four of us. Obviously, something isn’t passing the smell test here.
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Before “Obamacare” I paid a $16 co-pay for my inhalers. Now I might as well buy the things outright. To add insult to injury, I make too much money to qualify for the “Obamacare subsidies.” So all that talk about health reform being for the “middle-class” is absolute nonsense.
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I may be dumb, but I’m not stupid. I’m simply not going to pay out the nose for virtually nothing in return. My game plan is to pay out of pocket for our regular medical expenses. What would you rather do: Pay $400 per month to fund your own regular medical expenses, or pay $2,400 per month for insurance premium plus co-pays plus meeting the deductible? I’ll take option “A.” Then I’ll just set up my own health savings plan so when one of the kids breaks an arm, we’ll pay for it out of that. Then of course I have to pay whatever nonsense penalty Uncle Sam has going on for not having health insurance. GRR.
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There is more.

This guy and others like him are victims of the Democrat healthcare scam that has made things much worse for them so they can expand their generosity to their constituency groups.  If Democrats are wondering why they have lost middle America, this explains it.  These people are the real victims of Democrat policy and liberals have zero empathy for them.