For more stories about how the ACA is helping New Yorkers get covered, see our full booklet: The ACA is Working: New Yorkers Tell Their Stories of Getting Covered

Age: Mid-Twenties
Enrolled in: Qualified Health Plan (QHP), with financial assistance
Final premium: $156
Before the ACA, Mary was without job-based insurance and couldn’t afford to get covered.
Now, she can continue freelancing with the security of her own health insurance plan.

Mary Bartlett became uninsured four years ago, when she first aged off of her parents’ insurance plan, and then transitioned from a job with health benefits. Payments for COBRA coverage through her prior job were just too high. Mary is in her 20s, but she has to take medications that were costing her $500 a month out-of-pocket. That’s why she was so happy when the Marketplace launched. “I remember thinking, ‘Maybe it will be possible for somebody like me to have decent health insurance.’”  She found a plan that only costs her $156 each month after her tax credit. For Mary, freelancing no longer means living without health coverage. Now, when she picks up her prescriptions, they’re free.

Special thanks to Raising Women’s Voices for contributing this story!