BenefitsAll

Obamacare Can Feel Like A Prison Sentence



I don't have a problem with the Affordable Care Act's (aka Obamacare) individual mandate. I am willing to pool my limited resources with others so that we all have health insurance coverage. But I have to admit that I am starting to feel the squeeze of my non-subsidized, high premium, high deductible health plan. So much so that I think I want out of Obamacare. Honestly, I'm not quite there yet but it may not take much more to get me there.

I already pay nearly $4,000 per year in premiums for a plan with a $6,500 deductible and 60% coinsurance and no out-of-network, non-emergency coverage. And yes, it is a Bronze level plan. I did the research and I used the latest decision support tools and based on my age and excellent health status, which includes never taking a prescription drug, this is the best plan for me. But the plan sucks in both terms of coverage and costs. My only other option—pay a penalty and pay any medical expenses I incur out-of-pocket—is an even worse option. I deserve better choices than this.

And to make my situation even more difficult, there is speculation that insurers will drop many of their Bronze-level plans in 2017, forcing me into a higher premium tier. But who cares about me? A $4,000/$6,500 Bronze plan is equivalent to a $5,500/$5,000 Silver plan, right? No. I don't have an additional $1,500 to pay in premiums that I will never get back. My spirit for the greater good has monetary limits and it ends at the Bronze level.

Obamacare doesn't care about me and the other few million people just like me. We are the people in the middle of the income divide that don't receive tax subsidies, employer subsidies or exchange subsidies. We are healthy and we buy the lowest cost health plans because buying more than we need is a waste of money we don't have and will never get back.

Obamacare doesn't just ignore people like me; it imprisons us. It forces us to bear some of the financial burden of the poor (which is okay) and the rich insurance companies (not okay). But unlike health insurance companies, we can't walk away and say this just isn't working for us. We are imprisoned in health insurance hell.

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