Last fall, I decided to drop my health insurance. Nothing was wrong with it, but I decided I preferred a Health Savings Account plan. I had one at a previous job and really liked it. So I took to the internet to research the best plans. I initially tried to search on the federal exchange website, but I didn't like that I had to create an account and enter all my information before looking at plan prices. Nevertheless I tried. I am pretty sure I made about 5 different accounts, but I am not confident since I was never able to confirm the email address or log back into the account with the correct password. I eventually gave up.
If only there was a website where you could browse available plans without having to enter all your personal info and even browse the difference between 2013 plans (non-Obamacare compliant) and 2014 plans (Obamacare compliant). Oh, wait, there is! It's called ehealthinsurance.com. And it was created without a 19,000 page law. Imagine that!
I decided to first search for plans beginning in January 2014, which would only include plans that met all of Obamacare's mandates. The cheapest HSA I found included a limited network of doctors, no coverage for out-of-network doctors, a $6000 deductible, and cost $140/ month. $6000 is a pretty high deductible, especially considering the federal government restricts how much you can deposit into an HSA account to $3,300/year. I also found a plan with a $3,500 deductible and a wider range of doctors for $186/ month.
Then I searched for a 2013 plan, which are currently no longer available, but my plan was to purchase one in December so it would be grandfathered in. And I was pleasantly surprised when the Obama Administration allowed these plans to stay in place until 2017(conveniently after the 2016 election), although I don't really think I should have to get the government's permission to purchase the type of health insurance that is best for me.
What were my results? HSA plans starting at $87, with a wide range of doctors and coverage if I went out-of-network. The $87 plan had a $5,000 deductible, which I thought was still high, although not as high as the Obamacare-compliant one. I ended up picking a plan for $125/month with a $3,000 deductible. And I love my non-Obamacare compliant plan. The administration thinks it's not enough coverage for me, but it offers much better coverage at a more affordable price than the plans offered on the exchanges.
I am exactly the demographic that is being hurt by Obamacare: Young and healthy. Obamacare is all based on yet another generational transfer of wealth from the relatively young, healthy, and poor, to the relatively old, sick, and rich. Now you may say that $61 a month isn't a lot. But it is a lot for someone young and starting out. and it's a lot more to be paying for similar coverage- and $186 is a lot more than my phone bill, by the way.
It's no wonder that many young and healthy people are choosing to opt-out of coverage completely.
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PDFTags: Obamacare