I decided to check the health insurance exchange for my State to see just how affordable health insurance would be if I was to enroll. Turns out I couldn’t afford the least expensive plan at all. Seriously, I couldn’t.
Who can afford $736 a month, roughly $8,840 annually? On top of that, I would have to come out of pocket for medical expenses up to $12,600 before actual coverage begins! That’s more than 20% of my annual household income before taxes.
Here’s the problem, according to CBS:
If you do not get coverage in that time, penalties will go up over time. If you’re an individual the penalty is $95 a year or one percent of your income — whichever is greater. “That’s for next year,” Schlesinger noted. “The cost goes up in the next couple of years, so when we get to the year 2016, it’s $695 per person or 2.5 percent of your income.
What incentive would there be for me or anyone to enroll if I can wait until I’m in need of catastrophic medical attention to do so? I can save thousands by waiting and just paying the fine, which is what people are finding out. This perhaps explains why of the hundreds of thousands of people who checked out the exchanges on the opening day, only hundreds have enrolled. In one State, Louisiana, zero enrolled — no one I know has an extra $736 per month to spend on insurance.
I’d call to complain, but I get the feeling no one would care.
Sifting Reality 
I haven’t even been able to access the site to get an estimate. What a disaster.
this is the stupidest “law” ever, i hope you stay healthy, i have kids your age
for full disclosure, my wife and I both have health insurance through our employers. We both have government jobs, she works for a town and I for the USPS. However, the ACA essentially traps us in our jobs. If we try to change our employment, it has to come with insurance that we can afford also. This law is a plague on employees and employers.
Thank you for your well wishes.
My new name for this legislation/law? The monumental Clusterfuck Written by Do-Gooder Pro nanny State Liberals and The Insurance Industry Lobby.
Is that name too long?
If you can make it an acronym that means the opposite it would work. No one could ever remember it as you titled it.
ACIA: Americas Clusterfudge & Ineptitude Act
See, that works.