The woman whose face graced Healthcare.gov for some time before being recently removed says she became a victim of cyberbullying following the law’s disastrous rollout.
“They have nothing else to do but hide behind the computer. They’re cyberbullying,” the woman, who would identify herself only as Adriana, told ABC News. “I’m here to stand up for myself and defend myself and let people know the truth.”
Adriana reportedly reached out to the federal agency responsible for the health care law’s rollout to talk about having photos of her and her family taken in exchange for permission to use them to market the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare.
“I mean, I don’t know why people should hate me because it’s just a photo,” she said. “I didn’t design the website. I didn’t make it fail, so I don’t think they should have any reasons to hate me.”
She said it was a “relief” when the photo was taken down a few weeks ago.
“Like I said, it was shocking. It was upsetting. It was sad. We were having a hard day when we read all this,” she said. “And in a way, I’m glad that my son is not old enough to understand, because you know whatever happens to you, it hurts them too.”
A spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services told ABC that Adriana’s photo was removed because “Healthcare.gov is a dynamic website,” not because she requested it.
“They didn’t ruin my life. I still have a job, I’m still married,” Adriana said. “That didn’t really crush me to the ground. I’m fine. Now I laugh about it.”
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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