Ouch, that is rough. What are deductible and max out of pocket like for bronze? Isn't market place income based (at least in subsidy refunds depending on state government participation) so hopefully you're doing ok financially. Yeah, healthcare cost needs to be addressed.
I'm fortunate enough where I don't need the credits. The weird thing is, is that the max out of pocket + monthly premium for Bronze is significantly less than the monthly premiums for platinum. For example, my bronze max is around $17000 + $24000 in premiums for $41,000 (give or take). Platinum premiums are around $5000/ month. I have tried to find a compelling reason that folks get platinum or the higher priced gold plans and have been unable to. I spoke to 4 separate reps and none of them could give me a reason.
I'm guessing these prices reflect some sort of model groupings where the averaged data make sense. What's the deductible like? My guesses here since I've never worked in the insurance industry (would love expert opinion of some one that have set insurance policy since I've seen similar disconnects). 1) The average actual cost of insuring health care for those that select platinum is higher as well, therefore the monthly rates need to be reflective of that, despite the fact the end product doesn't make sense from a customer standpoint. 2) The turn on these products are fast (people find jobs and get on company insurance). Therefore people hit their the deductible and pop max faster in platinum for when they need it. I.e. the math can work if you assume the average length of period on the plan is ~3 months. P.S. my guess is the reps can't explain it. Probably need to see the financial model from a back office analyst or data scientist to understand it.
I think our deductible is around $7500. I'm on a plane and don't have the numbers in front of me. As with most years, we would have been better off just doing a pay as you go in 2019 and 2020. But... as we learned when my wife broke her neck in Hawaii in 2017, things can change in an instant. Fortunately she didn't need surgery, but we learned that she was one of the very few that broke that vertebrae and didn't die, become paralyzed or need surgery.
No, there are many particularly young libertarian types even up to around 40 who have never had a major health problem and who are blissfully unaware of many things. It was the theory behind the obnoxious fine for those who did not buy Obamacare. I wasn't one of them, but did never had a significant need for insurance and was often times uninsuredor drastically underinsured. BTW I was already a socialist, so I may have been inexperienced wrt to medical issues and bills , but was not naive in general about the health care/insurance industry.
I just had a cat scan for $10 For High Salivary Amylase I don't even know what that is In general, you can expect to see CT scan costs that range from $270 on the very low end to nearly $5,000 on the high end.
Healthcare is something that all Americans should be able to agree on. Everyone wants affordable healthcare. Right? Republicans would probably love the affordable care act if it were called Trumpcare or McConnellcare. But really we should be able to do much better than the affordable care act. It helps some, but not all that need help. So frustrating that both sides are afraid the other side will get credit for doing something good.
It was just a Google quote, I do not know the extent of it. I was just interested in how much insurance money I was burning.