North Enders unsure about Obamacare

by Ben Austin

NORTH END -- Using his left hand and 22 different pens, President Barrack Obama changed the lives of millions of Americans last Tuesday by signing the historic and controversial Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law.


The extensive bill will, in part, expand Medicaid eligibility, prohibit insurers from discriminating against customers with pre-existing conditions, and will offer tax credits to small businesses that provide health care for employees starting in 2014. For the North End, which is has more than one-hundred small businesses, this bill will affect the neighborhood.


"Because of the high unemployment rate, because of the disparity in the way that benefits are presented to employees, I think it will make things more uniform. So I think it will be good for the minority," said Jay Wisner, a 33-year-old resident, who has health insurance. "I think it's better for the employees than for the employers in the sense of money... but a lot of times that's the price you pay in business."


Although health care reform was seen as the life work of Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy, who died last fall in the midst of the debate, not all North End are as optimistic about the way the bill their senator fought for will affect their neighborhood. The $938 billion price tag on the bill is also a hot topic in the North End.


"The bad thing is it could lead to more taxes. That's what scares me. $940 billion is tough." said Matt Schell, 28, a graduate student at Salem State College who also teaches history in Chelsea. "In Canada ,the sales tax is 15 percent, and I think a lot of that is attributed to the health care situation. And I think that could happen in this country."


Some residents say they don't feel as though they are not yet familiar enough with the details of the bill due to the yearlong process that it took to pass through congress.


"I have no idea how it's going to affect me. I already have insurance through my employer," said Gina Cosentin, 50, of the North End. "I sound somewhat uninformed about it but it's, been going on for so long. It's a thousand pages, you know? I think a lot of people are just confused."