Hold on there.....I highly object to people who choose to stay healthy by going mountain biking, skiing, or other dangerous sports as opposed to those who choose to stay healthy by taking long walks. Why should the people who choose the safe sports end up footing the bill for the idiots who choose to do back flips while skiing/mountain biking? So lets add a few more of those checkboxes.....
I would not pay $1,000 per month for health insurance. Those premiums will bankrupt most people. It's cheaper to just pay the fine next year and in future years. Obtain insurance when you need it, since it will cover pre-existing conditions, no more underwriting. Pray for no emergency room visits, and if it happens, do like many people do in this country, don't pay or pay very little each month.
There's a different story every where you look. I've had my insurance policy for the last 8 years with Anthem. I pay $350/month, but I have a $5K deductible. I checked the new health insurance exchange (California) and for $350, I get my exact same policy with a $500 deductible, plus a lot of other extra's (free check-ups, no maximum limits, etc.). My neighbor across the street lost his job a year ago. He used to get health insurance from his work. He also hates Obama and Obamacare. When he lost his job, he was mortified when he tried to get insurance. For himself, his wife, and two teenage daughters: $1,950/month! With no income, he just couldn't afford it. My buddy who is a contractor discarded his health insurance (for himself and his family) when the economy went bad. Last year, he tried to get insurance and found it would cost him $2,250/month. He couldn't afford that. 6 months later, they found his wife had a brain tumor (she got in a car accident and they discovered it during an MRI). She had to go get a job at a grocery story stocking shelves just to get health insurance to pay for the surgery. Believe me, I'm not an Obama fan (far from). But we had a very broken system that didn't work for many. There was already too much government in it already. Something had to change. Since we couldn't take out all government out of it, we had to add more. Based on all the cases that I saw, it just couldn't continue.
I think you are missing the point or possibly choosing to ignore it. Yes, some people's policies on the exchange ARE cheap because they are being SUBSIDIZED by other tax paying citizens. If you want my money that badly why don't you just ask me nicely instead of robbing me blind?
I just bought almost a year of avoiding Odumbocare. Apparently quite a few current clients of Coventry are outraged by Odumbocare, the quotes and the mandated coverage we are forced to buy. So I've just been given the option to cancel my existing policy that ran until Feb 1, 2014 and replace it with IDENTICAL COVERAGE to commence December 1, 2013 and run through Nov. 30, 2014. Premium increase is from $364 to $425/month a far cry from the BS quote of $1000/month. Hopefully in the next 12 months this nonsense can be changed to (1) we're allowed to buy a high deductible policy (2) we're not forced to have coverages we don't want or need (3) multiple levels of premiums based on more criteria than smoker vs. non-smoker.
Amen!! Just told my wife ... what is our reward for working out 6-7 days/week and being financially responsible our lives? Answer: We are told due to our hard work and income we won't get a handout ... err, subsidy. Rather, if we'd been lazier we would get a subsidy. Next, working out does keep me super healthy; same with wife. But our peace of mind regarding our health is all we have to show for it. We now get to pay these outrageous rates to subsidize all the fat slobs out there. And as Dave Ramsey said "it's almost Communistic to FORCE people to buy mandated coverages". One size does not fit all Odumbo. Those of us who take responsibility for our well being and financial matters may WANT a high deductible catastrophic policy. The government has no place to tell me what coverage I must have.
I'm in the same boat, but the bigger problem here is what the left has been planing for decades. Pure statism, socialism and communism. They want a one party rule (banana republic) to enrich the few elitist at the harm of the many (which is what socialism always does). Dem's have gotten soooo many people on the tit of the guberment, and add in the liberal media and liberal professors, I don't see it EVER turning around. Did you know after you sign up for odumbocare, it asks you to register to vote!! (Buying votes is one of the many tactics of the left, along with racism, class warfare, and union blowjobs). Protect yourselves as much as possible!! Godspeed!
If anyone is interested, here are the FACTS. The real NUMBERS you are paying state to state. Enough of this "I know a guy" narrative. Here is how "affordable" the Affordable Care Act really is.
It's similar to the bright kids who go to a private school and their parents are forced to pay upwards of $30,000 in tuition a year...asked to raise additional money all year long to "subsidize" the many "underpriviledged" kids who go to the same school for next to nothing. (Nevermind that the original $30k is already going towards subsidizing the other kids). That's just one example, but they exist everywhere nowadays. It's really just further confirmation that the intent is to cement the large class divide...oligarchs and govt dependent drones. Ironically, the mythical middle class are the public sector workers, who enjoy tremendous benefits, out of step salaries, etc...on the backs of the evaporating private sector middle class. So many threads have been started to discuss these topics, so I'll leave it at that.