By Mark Wasson, SW News – April 15, 2022
Krueger learned about the problem when she became pregnant with twins after being laid off as an entertainment manager at the beginning of the COVID pandemic. She lost her insurance and the health coverage of another child she has with her husband, Bobby Bouley.
The couple quickly found that Bouley’s insurance through his employer only covered him. Krueger, researching the ACA website, initially appeared to be eligible for hundreds of dollars of subsidies — until she learned she was actually ineligible due to Bouley having insurance.
“I didn’t understand the ACA ‘family glitch,’ which I had never heard before as I’m sure many had not, as well,” Krueger said. “I don’t get it. The website is telling us that we get these subsidies but then we’re stopped from getting them.”
She said she tried to sign up for COBRA insurance but was blocked from that.
“I started contacting everybody who would listen and I kept getting the same thing, which was, ‘It’s just the ACA “family glitch.” It’s how it is. I’m so sorry, that’s a terrible situation to be in but good luck.’ That was basically it.”
That’s when Krueger decided to contact U.S. Rep. Angie Craig’s office to see if she would listen.
“This is a case of someone who encountered a really big issue calling their member of Congress and my staff picked up the phone and listened to her story,” said Craig, a Democrat who represents Minnesota’s Second Congressional District. “As a member of Congress I’d heard about this thing called the ‘family glitch.’ You’d hear people talk about it, but it was in numbers.”
Craig said that after her staff told her about Krueger’s plight, it lit a fire under her to do something.
She sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and talked with her White House liaison. She also spoke with Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, who had visited the Second District last year and attended some events with Craig.
“That really gave me a free standing opportunity to really talk with him in depth on Allie’s story and why this needed to be changed,” Craig said.
Craig talked to Biden on a plane ride back to Washington, D.C., about fixing the family glitch.
Due to Craig’s and Krueger’s advocacy, that fix will be in place Jan. 1, 2023, following Biden’s executive order to ensure thousands of Minnesotans and millions of Americans won’t be caught in the trap.
At the White House ceremony, Krueger sat in the third row and shook former President Barack Obama’s hand (but not Biden’s due to COVID protocols).
“Here I am, a little plain old person, getting laid off and pregnant with twins. I never thought that my voice would be listened to,” Krueger said. “So it’s been really cool to see reaching out to a representative that takes my story on and brings it all the way to the White House and then there I am at the White House watching this issue get fixed.”