"I Liked My Old Plan (Because It Was Cheap)"

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Some people with privately issued health insurance (i.e. not employer-provided, not Medicare or Medicaid) are now being informed by their carriers that their policy will not be renewed because it does not meet the new and improved minimum standards required under Obamacare.  Qualifying coverage is available via their current carrier or other carriers, but at higher cost, often a lot higher.

That's because most of the people in this small segment are self-employed, work for a very small company, or took early retirement.  Unlike most Americans (who may spend a career in an employer group plan, then move into Medicare and never know the true cost of their health insurance), these folks know that real, full-coverage health insurance in America is very expensive.  And for reasons of that cost, many of these folks chose a relatively substandard plan mainly because it was relatively affordable.  I know.  Been there, done that.

Now the half-assed cheapo plans are history.  Complaining that "I liked my old plan" essentially translates to "I liked my old price."  Now the coverage is better but the premium is higher.  Maybe you qualify for a tax credit, maybe you don't, but either way you gotta pay the full freight up front, then worry about your tax return later.

We can debate another time whether the higher premiums result solely from expanded coverage, or if some opportunistic profiteering is also involved.  Both are minor factors.  The main driver of premium costs continues to be the free-market, for-profit troika of Big Medical/Big Pharma/Big Insurance.  Our twisted system is rigged for their benefit.  As a result, every aspect of American health care simply costs too damn much.

I'm a staunch supporter of Obamacare.  For all the good that Obamacare has already done and will do in the decades to come, it does not dictate prices and does nothing to reign in our out-of-control costs.  That's why it's just the first step.  The next step in American health care reform and genuine cost control is to join the rest of the developed world and remove health care from the realm of capitalism:  Yes, I mean single-payer, universal health care, nationalized health insurance, government-run health care, Medicare for all, socialized medicine -- call it what you will.  That's what works for everybody.  What we have does not.