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ACA open enrollment ends Dec. 15

According to the Missouri Foundation for health, 80 percent of Missourians are eligible for tax credits.
MIAMI, FL - NOV. 01: A computer screen shows the enrollment page for the ACA on Nov. 1, 2017 in Miami. The open enrollment period to sign up for a health plan under the Affordable Care Act runs until Dec. 15. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The deadline to sign up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act also known as ObamaCare is fast approaching. The open enrollment period ends on Dec.15th.

If you don't have insurance and don't sign up, you will face a penalty. The controversial law has been in the headlines since Barack Obama signed the legislation in 2010.

But, for one woman, the health care law is now something she can't live without.

"I don't think I can have health insurance without the Affordable Care Act," said beauty student Jessica Deters.

It took a near-fatal accident to a family member for Deters to see the importance of health insurance. Her brother Jeff became paralyzed after a crash about 10 years ago.

Without coverage, she says medical bills could have crippled their family financially.

"You don't use it every day, you don't use it every month, you might not use it that year, but in that instance when something serious happens to you, it may be a pay off like no other," she said.

Deters is a millennial student training to be in the beauty industry. Like most young, healthy people, health insurance can be an afterthought, but the accident to her brother not only changed his life but also hers.

"My mom told me, she made a point to use that as a learning lesson."

And she learned that lesson. Once she turned 27, Jessica Deters' parents could no longer keep her on their health insurance plan. At the time, she worried the cost of health care would become too much of a burden.

"My mom had fantastic insurance. I never paid a co-pay. I never paid for prescriptions, nothing."

Then, she got health insurance through the Affordable Care Act last year.

"[I] filled out the questions and I found it was really really easy."

Deters did a lot of research.

"I found out everything about deductibles, out of pockets."

Through that research, she picked a plan.

According to the Missouri Foundation for health, 80 percent of Missourians are eligible for tax credits. Deters was one of them.

"I have a $5 co-pay, zero dollars for my prescriptions that I'm paying for," she said. "I'm paying $58 a month."

She would now call herself a healthcare advocate. Deters has even helped friends sign up. And she says they've found the process easy and affordable.

Now, Deters is hoping people do not wait until it's too late. Because she says it could cost you.

"I would never want to leave my family indebted or have to deal with that burden."

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