Healthcare reform did two things for me.

1. My wife has a pre-existing condition and we paid $1500 per month for insurance at one point before reform. The changes forced student health insurance to cover prescription medication in a real way and allowed her to finish her doctorate. It's also nice to know that some kind of professional catastrophe wouldn't risk our access to affordable (i.e., <$1500 per month) insurance.

2. Several of my close friends didn't have health insurance prior to ACA. This was dangerous. They've been forced into getting insurance with subsidies and they actually go to the doctor when something is wrong now.