President Obama Singles Out Leetsdale Man During Healthcare Speech
LEETSDALE (KDKA) -- John Mier of Leetsdale was working when President Barack Obama referenced his letter during a mid-day press event on Monday.
"I got a letter last week from a self-employed man named John Mier in Leetsdale, Pa.," President Obama said.
The White House had called Mier earlier to tell him the President had read his letter.
"When I came back there was a bunch of voicemail messages, and I got an email from my son out in Tucson saying, 'right hand man of the Prez,'" said Mier. "I had no clue that presidents actually read those things."
What prompted Mier to write was his initial bad experience with the website, Healthcare.gov.
"Tried to go online and the first three days I was successful in driving myself crazy," said Mier.
He told the President the website stank, but eventually he got through and liked what he saw.
Mier says his old health insurance for himself and his wife, who has a pre-existing condition, had gone through the roof, putting their "health care bill at over $27,000."
But with some perseverance, Mier examined 35 plans under the Affordable Care Act and found one from Highmark that saved him $15,000.
"With the new policy, we're looking at $12,517 -- so it's less than half," said Mier.
As he told the President, Mier says anyone self-employed and those with pre-existing conditions owe it to themselves to check out Obamacare.
"The United States has the most expensive health care in the world, but we are ranked 46th by the World Health Organization. We need to address that," Mier said.
RELATED LINKS:
More Affordable Care Act Information
More Reports by Jon Delano
