This is in response to letters from Alison Jacobs and Janice Trapp in the Oct. 9 Sun Journal.

Beginning in 2014, members of Congress will be required to get their medical insurance through insurance exchanges. They are not exempt from the mandate.

Also, my daughter is thrilled that she no longer has a $15 per month copay for her birth control pills. She and her husband are both students and cannot afford a child at this time in their lives. My youngest son, who was uninsured, now has affordable medical coverage, as do his coworkers in their small, 20-employee business. A big plus.

I do not understand why some people do not think everyone needs affordable health care. Even though Congress could certainly do a much better job, no way the mess it has become can be fixed by one man (President Obama) in eight years. Health care for everyone has been on the agenda for some 80 years.

Edie Williams, Auburn

Editor’s note: A CNN fact check on the question of whether Congress is exempt from the ACA concludes that, through the president’s recently issued special rule for Congress and congressional staff, a special subsidy has been made available to Congress and staff to purchase health insurance. That subsidy is not available to other Americans earning similar levels of income.