By Shannon Muchmore

Talking to people who have acquired health insurance under the Affordable Care Act can help show both the happiness – and the struggles. From the sometimes difficult sign-up process to issues with narrow networks and the ability for some to get preventive care for the first time in their lives, many stories are out there. But it’s sometimes hard to find “real people” willing to tell their stories. Here are a few ideas for finding people and talking to them about their ACA experiences. You may get a very different perspective than you’ll get from politicians, advocates, or policy wonks.

Finding them

A great place to start is a certified navigator in your area. Federally Qualified Health Centers, which treat the underserved population on a sliding scale, often have navigators on staff who can connect you with a person that fits your story. You may want to ask for somebody who has never had health insurance, somebody who waited until the last minutes to sign up or a young person who has enrolled (older than 26, of course, because they can now stay on their parents’ insurance until that age).

Nonprofit organizations and other low-income or free health clinics can also put you in touch with people who may have recently signed up or are looking to. For example, Tulsa’s 211 helpline to find social services of all kinds has a navigator and other places to refer clients.

During enrollment periods, many organizations will host signup events at which you can talk to navigators and people seeking insurance.

What to ask them

One of the main questions to ask is whether they received a subsidy. If yes, you can try to find out how much or at least ask whether they would be able to afford the plan without the subsidy. This is especially crucial with the King v. Burwell decision pending at the Supreme Court, which could outlaw subsidies in 34 states with a federal exchange.

You can also ask what level of coverage they got (bronze, silver, gold or platinum) and what they took into consideration when choosing that plan.

It’s certainly good to know whether they’ve had coverage before and why they are going to the exchange now. If they haven’t been previously covered, ask whether it was ever offered through work or if they thought about an individual plan. Did they have a preexisting condition like type 2 diabetes or asthma? Was that a barrier to coverage? If so, how and where did they get medical care?

How did they find out about the Affordable Care Act or the event at which they may have signed up? A large number of enrollees I’ve talked to said they learned about it on Facebook, which is interesting.

Also ask how they have already used the coverage or plan to. Will they just have it in case of trauma/emergency? Are they seeking preventive services? Or are they attending to health concerns they’ve long had?

What stories to write

A good story for those in federal exchange states is talking to people who have gotten insurance for the first time under the exchange and could now lose it after a King decision in the plaintiff’s favor.

Other questions to consider

• Do they understand their coverage enough to make good use of it?

• Have they ever avoided getting treatment in the past because they didn’t have insurance?

• How will they react if their premium increases?

• Have they had any problems finding providers in their network?

• If they previously had insurance and a regular doctor, is that doctor still covered?

• Despite coverage, do they still have trouble paying for their care?

Here are a few stories I’ve done in which I got people to talk to me.

The enrollees quoted in this story reminded me that some people want to seek out preventive care but have avoided it because of lack of insurance. Also, even if insurance through work is offered, it may be prohibitively expensive or may have been in the past.

A young woman I talked to for this story told me she was in a car wreck while uninsured and when an ambulance arrived she was at first more worried about the hospital bill than her health. Her parents are immigrants with a small business, so they’ve never had insurance before now.

At this sign-up event I didn’t end up quoting an enrollee but I got names for future use. I recall when talking to those waiting to sign up that there was a lot they really didn’t understand about the basics of the ACA. One can forget that when spending a lot of time talking to experts.

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Shannon Muchmore (@smuchmore) is the health reporter at the Tulsa World. She is @smuchmore on Twitter and can be reached at shannon.muchmore@tulsaworld.com.