Cautionary Tale: Job Lock

The Takeaway: 

Steve quit his job in publishing to work on his own because he wasn't worried about health security.
 Job lock didn't keep him tethered to a job he no longer wanted. 

"My decision was possible only because I lived in Massachusetts, where "Romneycare" gave me the freedom to not worry about health security. Sure, I had to work harder than ever earning my living, but because of the Massachusetts health law, I was willing to take the risk. So I gradually built up a modest but reliable independent proprietorship, taught part-time for low pay (simply because I loved it), and embraced my newfound independence with vigor.
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In March 2010, when Barack Obama succeeded in bringing a version of Romneycare to the entire nation, I was over the moon. With the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, I saw a way for Americans in all 50 states to have the freedom to make choices like I did--not just middle-class people like me who could pay their full premiums, but lower-income folks (like those in my own family and my students), thanks to the ACA's income-related subsidies and, eventually, Medicaid expansion.


Given that the ACA's protections were national, I was able in 2015 to move back to my birth state of New York, closer to loved ones."

Full story: How the Possible Obamacare Repeal Is Already Hurting My Business