Randy Tucker, Dayton Daily News, Ohio

Sept. 28–The impact the Affordable Care Act has had on the previously uninsured and low and middle income families cannot be understated as millions of Americans and tens of thousands of Ohioans have gained access to health coverage for the first time through the health insurance marketplace launched last year. But the consumer impact is just one part of the health care law’s overall impact on a complex network of hospitals, insurance companies and other stakeholders, each focused on a critical area of health care. Here are their stories:

Charles McClinon of Roselawn — a suburb of Cincinnati — said he hasn’t been able to hold down a job for at least the past five years because of epileptic seizures that had been growing in frequency and intensity until he finally had surgery this past summer.

In July, McClinon, 51, had a vagus nerve stimulator inserted near his collarbone to send mild pulses of electrical energy to his brain to control his seizures. He has visited his doctor every week since undergoing the surgery to gradually increase the stimulation and and monitor his progress.

McClinon estimates his medical bills would be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars if he were not among the more than 300,000 Ohioans deemed newly eligible for Medicaid this year under expanded eligibility requirements established by the Affordable Care Act.

“I’ve already accumulated more than $30,000 in medical bills just from going to the doctor on my own,” he said. “I never would have been able to afford the surgery, much less the follow-up treatments, if I didn’t have Medicaid. I applied for disability and was rejected, so I would have been on my own without the health care law.”