The affordable care act doubled most people's insurance over night (This happened to me and almost everyone I know). Nobody wants to mention this, because it makes their side look bad.
Until we can admit where there are problems, there will never be a solution.
slackfan•40m ago
Nearly tripled in my case, but I've literally been either told that that was a conspiracy theory (still flabbergasted as to how?), or been argued against with some vague appeal-to-emotions with regards to "but the poor people without health coverage". I wasn't exactly just out of minimum wage territory living paycheck to paycheck as a junior sysadmin at the time either, but who's counting, right?
dominotw•34m ago
ok its appeal to emotion but why is it vague?
slackfan•32m ago
Because at the time I could name about 20 people who lived at or below minimum wage with or without healthcare insurance and the ones that would conduct this appeal could not.
ChrisRR•39m ago
As a non-american this is the first I'm hearing of this. I would've thought if the majority of americans' health insurance had double overnight then there would've been massive uproar.
Can you explain what's happened?
slackfan•34m ago
The health insurance companies were given massive government subsidies to insure the previously (theoretically) uninsurable with no real provisions to cap rate hikes for anybody, and no alternative plan (public alternative that was originally part of the bill was killed). Large corporations received a captive market where people HAD to purchase health insurance (or pay a relatively onerous-at-the-time fine).
Insurance companies wrote for, edited, and lobbied around most of the bill as it was passed.
E: A fun downstream effect of it was that employer-provided insurance rates also went through the roof.
triceratops•22m ago
He's exaggerating. It wasn't literally overnight but over several years.
nicole_express•4m ago
I wonder if this is a regional issue; didn't do anything of the sort for me and people I know in Massachusetts, but there the Affordable Care Act wasn't that different than the existing "Romneycare" state regulation. In cases where state regulation was much lesser I guess it likely had a bigger impact.
jmathai•30m ago
The two times I did not have employer sponsored health care AND $0 income, the ACA plans were more expensive than getting a plan directly from the insurance company. It never costed me $27,000 though.
Most recently, in 2024, I had medical and dental coverage for my family of 6 for around $1,200/mo - roughly half what's quoted but again, family of 6. Wasn't the greatest insurance but it would have kept us from financial ruin in case of a catastrophic event which is all I expect from insurance anyways.
silverquiet•28m ago
I gained insurance overnight because of the ACA after not being able to afford it.
jqpabc123•16m ago
The fundamental problem is the very idea of private "health insurance".
Market forces naturally create low rates for those who don't need insurance and unaffordable rates for those who do. But over time, everyone gravitates from the former to the latter.
The "free market" does not offer a practical solution to every problem. Tariffs are an open admission of this basic fact.
aleph_minus_one•6m ago
The problem rather is the insane amount of red tape involved if you want to set up your own health insurance company. Thus hardly any competition for the established player arises.
The result is what any arbitrary textbook about economy will tell you: if there are large barriers to entry into a market (i.e. the opposite of "free market"), the customer won't get the positive consequences of a free market, but instead oligopolies will form - with their negative consequences.
billy99k•59m ago
Until we can admit where there are problems, there will never be a solution.
slackfan•40m ago
dominotw•34m ago
slackfan•32m ago
ChrisRR•39m ago
Can you explain what's happened?
slackfan•34m ago
Insurance companies wrote for, edited, and lobbied around most of the bill as it was passed.
E: A fun downstream effect of it was that employer-provided insurance rates also went through the roof.
triceratops•22m ago
nicole_express•4m ago
jmathai•30m ago
Most recently, in 2024, I had medical and dental coverage for my family of 6 for around $1,200/mo - roughly half what's quoted but again, family of 6. Wasn't the greatest insurance but it would have kept us from financial ruin in case of a catastrophic event which is all I expect from insurance anyways.
silverquiet•28m ago
jqpabc123•16m ago
Market forces naturally create low rates for those who don't need insurance and unaffordable rates for those who do. But over time, everyone gravitates from the former to the latter.
The "free market" does not offer a practical solution to every problem. Tariffs are an open admission of this basic fact.
aleph_minus_one•6m ago
The result is what any arbitrary textbook about economy will tell you: if there are large barriers to entry into a market (i.e. the opposite of "free market"), the customer won't get the positive consequences of a free market, but instead oligopolies will form - with their negative consequences.