> The only thing that the Affordable Care Act ensures is that an insurance company can't deny insurance. If you're on your own you're still screwed.
Where are you getting this stuff? It ensures a lot more than that... Coverage minimums, no policy maximums, pre-existing condition coverage, free annual checkups, etc etc. Pricing is also fixed within age groups except for smoking (which comes at a standard premium to your age group).
Another part is guaranteed affordability based on income. If you don't make a lot of money or live in an area where the plans are higher cost you will quality for a subsidy which brings the price down to an affordable level. If you make a lot of money the good news is the plan is already affordable.
Before the ACA I could only get a high-deductible plan that never covered a single thing in the half dozen years I had it. It would have been handy if I had gotten hit by a bus, but I would run into problems even then because it had a maximum policy outlay and they had the ability to drop me (then leaving any remaining medical problems as a "pre-existing" condition for a future insurer). The only good part about it was the Health Savings Account that allowed me to pay the exorbitant rates for medical care with pre-tax money. Without a subsidy I'm paying about the same now (hard to do an exact comparison without the HSA), but I can actually use the insurance. It won't be $150+ every time I walk into a doctors office, eye clinic, dentist or pharmacy.
Where are you getting this stuff? It ensures a lot more than that... Coverage minimums, no policy maximums, pre-existing condition coverage, free annual checkups, etc etc. Pricing is also fixed within age groups except for smoking (which comes at a standard premium to your age group).
Another part is guaranteed affordability based on income. If you don't make a lot of money or live in an area where the plans are higher cost you will quality for a subsidy which brings the price down to an affordable level. If you make a lot of money the good news is the plan is already affordable.
Before the ACA I could only get a high-deductible plan that never covered a single thing in the half dozen years I had it. It would have been handy if I had gotten hit by a bus, but I would run into problems even then because it had a maximum policy outlay and they had the ability to drop me (then leaving any remaining medical problems as a "pre-existing" condition for a future insurer). The only good part about it was the Health Savings Account that allowed me to pay the exorbitant rates for medical care with pre-tax money. Without a subsidy I'm paying about the same now (hard to do an exact comparison without the HSA), but I can actually use the insurance. It won't be $150+ every time I walk into a doctors office, eye clinic, dentist or pharmacy.