Oh, come on ... everyone knows that any societal concerns in 2025 are still Obama's fault. How dare you blame the people currently in power for current events?

I looked into ACA plans once after a layoff about a decade ago. Fucking COBRA was cheaper, so I've never taken another look.

If you want riots, I can't really think of a more effective one-two punch than taking away SNAP and putting insurance out of reach. The knock-on effects are going to be interesting, though. The line will definitely go down for Walmart.

Almost like a single payer system is the only sensible way it was ever possible to give healthcare to everyone.

Hopefully the collapse of the US as it is brings out something better from the ashes some day, cause this shit is unpalatable

November is looking to be a wildly horrific month for everyone

It's the 2 weeks or so in which your insurance company allows you to adjust your coverage. To facilitate this, they give you brochures designed to be confusing to try and trick you into paying maximum premiums alwith minimal coverage.

I had an employer that bragged about bringing employee down costs with the new provider by 20% per payckeck as the reason for the drastic reduction in coverage and higher copays. They glossed over the fact that we were changing from bi-weekly to weekly paychecks, so the 20 percent reduction per paycheck was actually a 60 percent increase overall.

That’s what my social security taxes are for!

Consider a high deductible plan with an HSA, especially if your employer contributes to the HSA and you don't have any underlying conditions (or dependents with them) which make it more likely for you to hit the deductible.

You can use the HSA funds later when you or your dependents need health care even if you've switched to a low deductible plan.

Unless you're absolutely loaded... yes, you still need insurance.

Depending on how much you have set aside it can work, if you don't have anything set aside and break a leg in a freak accident you can get stuck making massive payments on $20,000+ of medical debt and set yourself back several years. I'm sure it's gotten more expensive now too, that was 6 years ago, and while I don't have the debt any more, I also have complications from the surgery that still bother me that I feel like I can't afford to get fixed.

That said, a high deductible plan can also leave you screwed, and doesn't save you as much money as they act like it does. The pricing is different for insured vs uninsured patients, and your insurance company has basically negotiated the rates higher so you think they're more useful than they actually are.

If you're sure you won't have any accidents and emergencies next year it could be a good option, yes.

Pretty sure you’re legally required to at least have a high deductible plan. Mine went up like $18/month but there were cheaper options that went up less, but everyone’s is different just a point of reference for whatever thats worth

The biggest thing insurance does is limits risk. When you have insurance and get a big hospital bill, you generally have more bargaining power with the hospital than if you don't have insurance. When enrollment time comes run the numbers and look at the costs. You can also apply and review options on the health insurance marketplace which usually involves applying for Medicaid in the process. For kids under 18 Medicaid has a family income cap of like $8k/month so if you have kids they're definitely covered by Medicaid

Personally, I'm not sure what I'm going to do in 2026 if the subsidy isn't renewed. I'm an independent contractor so my health insurance options are entirely limited to the marketplace, and while I currently have a plan that costs $1250/month with the $1100/month subsidy I only pay $150/month for insurance which is quite reasonable. Every plan I saw on the marketplace cost a minimum of $900 or more per month.

I simply do not make enough (and I'm not allowed to work more hours than I currently am so that's not an option) to be able to afford insurance if the above math is the same for 2026. My plan right now is, keep job hunting and maybe my wife starts job hunting too since my contract work can work around the kids' school schedules (and my youngest starts going to school full time next year rather than half time) so we don't need a non-working parent as long as this contracting lasts for, and we probably won't get coverage through the marketplace in 2026 unless I can get it for about $400/month or less, because at that point I'm probably better off risking dumping more money into my emergency fund and hoping we don't have any medical emergencies (and planning on negotiating with the hospital if we do) I don't like the risk level of no insurance but we may simply be priced out of having insurance if the healthcare marketplace subsidy isn't renewed