Healthcare.gov enrollment breaks record in U.S., increases in Wisconsin

For all of her adult life, the federal Affordable Care Act has made a big difference for Katerina Klawes.

“I have never had a traditional job that has offered health care benefits,” says Klawes, who lives in Milwaukee. She’s mostly been self-employed as an independent contractor for small nonprofit and education organizations. 

She also has multiple disabilities, including being hard of hearing, that once would have subjected her to a lifetime limit on her insurance coverage — if she could get insurance at all instead of being denied coverage or charged exorbitant premiums because of her preexisting health conditions.

Thanks to the ACA, she was covered by her parents’ health insurance until she turned 26 five years ago. Since then, she’s been able to buy health insurance on Healthcare.gov, the federal health insurance exchange that the ACA created.