What I would consider a reasonable policy -- something I could have gotten in the mid 90s -- is around $300/month for a single male now. It was $60 for a family back then. What you are quoting are lessor alternatives that have "gimmicks" in them to make them look cheaper while they actually offer less in the way of services for more. If you look not just at the cost rise in insurance but the excess profitability of health care providers, the drug industry, and the medical device makers, over the last 5-6 years you can see that there is clearly something wrong with our system. It doesn't assist to confuse a free market with price gouging and the equivalent of protected Oligopolies. The Canada example is flawed as I pointed out previously. I'll say it again. According to that same article, 80% of Canadians were satisfied with their health care system -- and that was without a private component option.