By Matt Underwood The idea of new Affordable Care Act (ACA) plans potentially raising family deductibles to an astonishing $31,000 is deeply concerning, and frankly, it begs the question: what’s the point of having insurance at all if you’re facing such an astronomical out-of-pocket cost before coverage even kicks in? It feels like a fundamental betrayal of the purpose of health insurance, which is meant to provide a safety net, not create an insurmountable financial hurdle.
When you consider a deductible of $31,000, it’s not just a number; it represents an annual income for a significant portion of the population, including many single-parent households. This level of cost effectively makes insurance unusable for the vast majority of people who aren’t independently wealthy. It’s difficult to fathom how anyone could manage such an expense, especially when premiums are already climbing. One person shared how their monthly premiums went up to nearly $2,800, and even with a relatively low deductible, they met it and their out-of-pocket maximum by mid-February due to a chronic illness. Imagining that scenario compounded by a $31,000 deductible is truly frightening and would undoubtedly devastate financial stability.
It’s hard not to feel like these changes are deliberately designed to make the ACA unusable, effectively killing it through a process of slow, deliberate undermining. The way these plans are being “bastardized” through technicalities and abuses of statutes feels intentional, pushing them far beyond their original, more humane intentions. For those dealing with serious health issues, like someone fighting Stage IV cancer, the increase in co-pays alone can be shocking. A PET scan and MRI that cost $500 a few months prior suddenly jumped to $1,750 for the same procedures. This kind of escalation, even with the best employer-sponsored insurance, is unsustainable for many, forcing them to rely on credit cards or forgo necessary treatments.
A $31,000 deductible isn’t insurance; it’s more akin to a high-stakes lottery ticket or a GoFundMe campaign with a lot of paperwork. If faced with such a figure, many would likely choose not to buy insurance at all, reasoning that the financial impact of paying out-of-pocket for significant medical needs might not be drastically different from having that massive deductible. When you have no money, a $31,000 bill and a $300,000 bill can feel remarkably similar in their impossibility. The current system, for many, seems to have no discernible point beyond perpetuating a cycle of illness and destitution.
This approach to healthcare appears to prioritize the majority who are healthy, treating those who are not as an afterthought. A plan that seems fine for someone with no health issues but would cost that same person at least $31,000, plus co-pays up to an out-of-pocket maximum, if they become ill, is far from affordable. The true cost is hidden until it’s too late, and many healthy individuals may not realize how quickly $31,000 could be reached with even a moderately serious medical event. The reality for families who have experienced this firsthand is a painful awareness of how quickly luck can run out and costs can accumulate.
There’s a palpable sense that the intention behind these changes is to create a system where people are essentially “healthcare slaves,” trapped by their medical needs. It’s described as hilariously bad, almost equivalent to not being insured at all, and this is likely by design, particularly from a Republican perspective. The strategy seems to be to continuously make the ACA worse, gradually gutting its essential components so that by the time it’s fully dismantled, proponents can argue it was “always terrible” and its elimination is a logical step.
The notion that people should simply lead healthier lifestyles and only use insurance for emergencies feels like a dismissive stance from those in power. It’s a stark contrast to the idea of healthcare as a national defense issue, where robust coverage should be a given. This sentiment is echoed in the frustration that while individuals struggle with rising costs, billions are allocated elsewhere, like providing free healthcare to another nation.
The current state of health insurance is often described as a scam, a source of deep regret and frustration, especially for those who paid premiums for years only to face an uphill battle with their insurer when a serious illness struck. The experience of a father paying premiums for decades, only for his family to have to argue over every detail when he developed cancer, highlights the perceived betrayal. It feels like a deliberate, “killing joke,” intentionally designed to fail.
The constant narrative of “low taxes” in some political circles seems to mask the reality that a single accident or illness can lead to individuals paying far more in medical expenses than Europeans pay in taxes over a decade. This is juxtaposed with the idea that universal healthcare could be achieved, potentially at a lower overall cost to taxpayers, by eliminating for-profit middlemen. Such a system could encourage preventative care, reduce the burden on small businesses, and free individuals to pursue entrepreneurial endeavors without being tied to employer-sponsored insurance.
Considering that most people don’t have $31,000 readily available in bank or retirement accounts, the prospect of such deductibles, coupled with potential job losses from an economic downturn, paints a bleak picture. The increases in premiums, even when the company’s contribution hasn’t changed, are attributed to insurers jacking up prices on medications. The ongoing propaganda against “social healthcare” seems driven by a desire to keep insurance companies and their associates wealthy, rather than a genuine concern for public well-being.
There’s a growing sentiment that the country is taking significant losses, with a large portion of the population either unaware or indifferent to the severity of the situation. The question arises: why bother with insurance at all if it offers so little protection against crippling costs? It feels like there’s no bottom to how much is being taken from people, and that “monsters are real” in their pursuit of profit. At what point, people ask, will there be a breaking point, a moment of forceful resistance against a system that feels like it’s crushing them?
This frustration is amplified by the perceived hypocrisy of certain political stances, with Republicans being accused of not being “pro-life” if they don’t support affordable healthcare, and instead appearing to wish for the death of the poor. The proposed ACA plans, with their sky-high deductibles, are far from affordable and are viewed as a deliberate attempt to make insurance unusable, pushing people towards desperate measures. It’s a grim outlook where “suicide is one option” might become the next suggestion when people express their inability to afford healthcare.