Healthcare Voices: The story of Michael Brylewski

Interview conducted January 26, 2017

Obamacare Fills a Need

For a 58-year-old construction worker living on Long Island, purchasing health insurance from the state exchange helped him out tremendously during a period of unemployment in 2015.

“I had no idea that the Nassau-Suffolk Hospital Council Navigator Program even existed. I worked with navigator Luz Arbiza. It was such a smooth and easy process that it was silly,” he recounts.

Plagued by high blood pressure and acid reflux disease, this construction worker said his medication costs $600 to $800 a month without insurance – unaffordable even when he is employed.

“The bottom line is that the insurance was there when I needed it, and I hope it will be there for everyone else,” he said.

In his view, something has to be done.

“We can’t cancel something like this for the people who need it.”