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Obamacare: How affordable is health insurance after the Affordable Care Act?
on October 20, 2013 at 9:40 AM, updated October 20, 2013 at 10:15 PM

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But the uninsured aren’t the only ones who find themselves shopping for a new plan. That’s because the Affordable Care Act requires health insurance plans meet minimum standards and provide many preventive services — like colonoscopies and mammograms — free of charge. That caused insurance companies to rewrite plans and scrap their current offerings for hundreds of thousands of people in New Jersey who buy insurance on the individual and small group market.

Mark Butler and his wife, both 55, are in that group. He is self-employed and she does not work. They had a Horizon EPO plan they liked and paid $746 per month in premiums, but were told their plan won’t exist past their 2014 renewal date.

The cheapest plan Horizon offers on the exchange that covers two 55-year-olds would cost $1,217 per month, a 63 percent increase from what the Flanders couple was paying. That plan, Butler said, only offers 50 percent coinsurance and 50 percent prescription drug coverage, and has a $5,000 family deductible. They could also choose a plan with a $1,546 per month premium that offers a 20 percent coinsurance and $2,000 family deductible.

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Eric Stein, 43, of Ridgefield Park is a self-employed chef who had been purchasing his own insurance for several years. He paid $292 in premiums and said he was happy with his plan, which came with no deductible. But that plan did not meet the minimum standards, he was told. A comparable plan will cost him $304 per month and that’s after the $66 subsidy he receives. His copays, he said, went from 0 to $2,500 per month. "I expect that I’m more likely to ration my care because of the high deductible, which kind of defeats the reason of having insurance in the first place," he said.

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http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/10...e_care_act.html

Here is my prediction. People arent going to buy zip...not because they dont need it, but because they cant afford it. And..those who buy and see they cant meet the payments? Well, they just cancel your butt. However, the silver lining is..you can walk into any hospital emergency room and be treated..so dont worry..ya wont die.

When you look at these plans with $10,000 a year deductables and high copays for visits and drugs..why would you bother? Most people wouldnt spend that 10 grand in a year, in dr visits and meds. They would be better off with a plan that just offers hospitalization..with dr care when you are hospitalized..and pay the rest of the stuff out of pocket. That would probably cost you less..and if everyone did that..it would force the dr fees and drugs, down..the way things were in the 50s and 60s. We didnt have all of this coverage..we had only hospital coverage..which, by the way, didnt even include maternity. Dr visits and drugs were paid out of pocket..and both were reasonable. I think people should kick these insurance companies to the curb..stop paying because others cant..and go back to paying for yourself.

In all honesty..in this economy, with people out of work, not getting raises and short on cash..who in their right mind would sign up for insurance at these prices? That, for some, is more than their mortgage payment. Things seemed to work so well back in the 60s, where you went to a dr when you needed to..not for cold and splinters.