When the Indiana Republican Party called on people to share their 'Obamacare horror stories' on social media, it backfired spectacularly – as thousands of people recounted how Obama's Affordable Care Act (ACA) had helped them.

Republicans in Indiana hoped people would reveal their terrible experiences of Obamacare and focus on the legislation's negative impact on premiums and forcing insurance companies out of the market, but instead droves took to social media to discuss how their lives have benefited from the ACA.

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"Did you lose a doctor that you liked? Have your premiums increased? Did your insurer leave the exchange? Are burdensome regulations hurting your small business?," the Indiana Republican Party wrote in a Facebook post on 3 July.

"We were promised Obamacare would make healthcare cheaper, better, and more available, but in reality it's turned out to be the opposite. What's your Obamacare horror story? Let us know," the post read.

Many people described the healthcare legislation as "life-saving" and said the only "horror" was that Republicans are intent on repealing Obamacare.

One man commented: " My wife is disabled with schizophrenia. Her Zyprexa costs us $56.00 per month. Before she got on Obamacare, the Zyprexa was $1,400.00 per month. My Obamacare horror story is that you are cynically doing everything you can to sabotage it."

Another man said that his friend's life had been saved by Obamacare. "He had cancer that was diagnosed during a routine checkup that was covered by his new plan from Medicaid expansion made possible by Obamacare, " he wrote.

"The horror is that you guys are trying to repeal it instead of fixing what is wrong with it," he added.

"The real horror story was before the ACA when I wasn't covered for a pre-existing condition," a woman said on Twitter.

Another person thanked Obama for introducing legislation that enabled his father's small business "to insure its employees for the first time ever".

Senate Republicans are currently trying to push their own healthcare bill through the House. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell told Republicans last week that he would postpone the vote until after the Fourth of July recess, in the hope of cajoling moderate and conservative senators into voting for the bill.