I hear these numbers thrown around and just shake my head. I've had health insurance in every job I've ever had and since I retired and I've NEVER paid anything close to those numbers. Granted, I've seen inflation in the cost of the insurance but nothing even close to the numbers you quote. I'd find a new insurance salesman because you're getting screwed.
First, it is a family plan. At times, I was covering six people. I mean I got six children, the youngest just turned 26 last year. I mean I get it, if you have only had insurance on yourself, through employer provided health insurance, well hell yeah it is inexpensive, your employer pays the majority. But the family, well that is a different animal.
Me, I have seen it all and had it all. Starting out, married, we both worked for the same employer and we both covered each other. LOL, in those days, hell we got double compensated and pocketed cash. I probably saved 200% on my health insurance premium. I got PAID.
Well, they figured that out after a while, but by that time I had made money having two children. Then, it was back to school, and yeah, I ran naked. Kids were on Medicaid. Next step, OMG, the "black card". Thirty years ago, premium was two grand a month, I paid half, company paid half. No deductible, no co-pay, no nothing. I swear, when we showed up at the emergency room upon occasion balloons and confetti fell out of the ceiling. I mean the intake person leaped into action every time. Tells you something. And not going to lie, pretty nice feeling. Like a fast pass at an amusement park.
Then back to the naked again. Got minimal coverage a little later. Then got hired by an employer that paid it all, even a family plan. Pretty sweet. Lasted a couple years. But then, it was back to the mainstream. Small companies, large companies, always looking to improve. I saw it first hand, from both sides. Big companies, cheap health insurance, small companies, sometimes "ouch". For those small companies, one person could swing the difference, a disabled child, spouse with chronic illness. Do you have any idea how fubared that is?
Sorry, typing at 150 words a minute sometimes creates screeds. Obamacare, which is kind of an insult, it really is the ACA, it really did good work. It did lower the slope of health care inflation. And it improved the quality of hospital care, from my own personal experience with family, to real numbers from, now, mandatory patient surveys. But most importantly, it eliminated the ball and chain that was employer sponsored health insurance. That resulted in a massive increase in productivity, and maybe more importantly, ingenuity.
Was it perfect? Hell no, when it was being drafted, I went off the rails sometimes and still have disagreements. But, at is core, it was the most landmark piece of legislation to pass in half a century. I am quite confident historians will see it the same.
But we have yet to see a real plan, I don't even think an introduced bill. Maybe, the right has found their new abortion issue. Talk alot, do nothing. Because obviously, they jumped the shark on abortion, and perhaps immigration now as well.
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