For Candy Seibert, a self-employed property manager from northeast Iowa, getting by without health insurance is just a way of life.Her experience isn't unusual in Allamakee County, where the 44-year-old Seibert lives. According to 2010 Census data, the bucolic county has the highest percentage of people without insurance in Iowa. A total of 18.2 percent of the population here lacks insurance, compared with a statewide average of 10.7 percent, based on the Small Area Health Insurance Estimates survey.
The onset of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul could bring down the number of uninsured in this region, with an expansion of state-run low income health coverage and new insurance marketplaces where people can buy plans. But there is both confusion and skepticism about the program in this area. Seibert, who has never had health insurance as an adult, said she didn't know much about the new law and wasn't sure if it would have an impact on her life."I feel a little strange that this is the first time we're forced to do something by our government," said Seibert, who said she'd be taking a wait and see approach.
Currently, she pays doctor bills off in installments, though she admits she's been lucky to have had relatively good health.Like Seibert, people without insurance in Allamakee, a county of about 14,000 people, said they manage in a variety of ways — visiting a free clinic in a neighboring county, seeking charity care at the hospital, putting medical bills on a payment plan, or just not going to see a doctor. Most who said they didn't have insurance, or had limited insurance access, said they knew little about the health care overhaul — officially the Affordable Care Act, but often referred to as "Obamacare" —and were not sure it would solve their problems.
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