Lena H. Sun and Amy Goldstein: Beneath health law’s botched rollout is basic benefit for millions of uninsured Americans:
Adam Peterson’s life is about to change. For the first time in years, he is planning to do things he could not have imagined. He intends to have surgery to remove his gallbladder, an operation he needs to avoid another trip to the emergency room…. These plans are possible, says Peterson, who turned 50 this year and co-manages a financial services firm in Champaign, Ill., because of a piece of plastic the size of a credit card that arrived in the mail the other day: a health insurance card…. Peterson is among the millions of uninsured Americans who are benefiting from the Affordable Care Act…. ‘I get these messages from acquaintances on Facebook saying, “Let me keep my doctor”‘, Peterson said. ‘Well, what about those of us who didn’t have health insurance before?… I have been walking a tightrope and have had some twists and falls off of it. To not have to worry about this anymore is a tremendous relief’.