I did not sign up for medical insurance again this year. Since coming off my corporate career and taking up independent consulting, I’ve learned the realities of ACA.
For my wife and me – late 50s/early 60s, good health, no preconditions, and not qualifying for subsidy – the cost was $1,000-$1,200 per month with $5,000 to $7,000 deductible: $19,000 a year before receiving any benefit.
Last year it would have been in the range of $15,000. I could factor in tax deductions but it doesn’t alter my conclusion.
I’m supportive of the ACA intent and subsidies to those in need, but this is why it’s failing. Healthy folks with decent incomes simply cannot justify it.
And the $1K-$3K we’re punitively penalized for self-insuring doesn’t help anyone. I don’t have the answer to this complex dilemma, but it’s clear to me, as I always suspected, the economics and assumptions behind ACA are fundamentally flawed.
I doubt our present Congress can work together in devising a better solution, but I’m encouraged the Republicans will try.
