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by setgree 2129 days ago
Sorry if this wasn't clear -- I'm saying that I wish that catastrophic plans were available to people over 30 as well.

My numbers are based on my own experiences shopping for healthcare in an ACA exchange in NY.

1 comments

OK, cool. Every state is different, so I'm always a bit curious as to how high premiums are set in different places. I just took a look at plans for those in NYC. For someone aged 35, it still looks like they're offering catastrophic plans. Fidelis has one at $178.75/month with no subsidy. For someone making $30k/year, the subsidy drops a bronze Fidelis plan to $16.59/month.

And, to be sure, coverage is still pretty bad. Just because someone has coverage doesn't mean they have the money to use coverage. Unless there's another subsidy, and there may be, that bronze Fidelis plan has a $8150 out of pocket max and it's unlikely someone making $30k/year is going to have that much money laying around. That said, at least the plan has a couple of free PCP visits.

Anyway, my intention here isn't to beat a dead horse. It's really important to me that people get health care coverage and costs are a barrier. I believe ACA plans to be far more affordable than people think them to be. I don't doubt that you saw a price in the realm you mentioned because they're out there, but often better pricing can be found and I end up doing these searches a lot.