[dqv]

I almost accepted this and went on my way, but it only tells like 7% of the story. The first thing is that your eligibility stops as soon as you start making more money (i.e. single earner > $17,000). But that increase in money does not cover the new costs for healthcare.

Aha! But at such a low income you get the ACA subsidy! But the insurance plans you can get have really high deductibles. If you're making $20,000 a year and have a $17,000 deductible... that's life ruining if you actually get sick. That's not to mention all the other oddities that go with having these higher-deductible lower premium plans like having to work around non-formulary medications, getting referrals to covered providers (you will be really lucky to have a PCP that does the homework to make sure you are referred in-network), and general insurance fuckery.

I think it's just a little bit more complex than filling out a few forms.

[VWWHFSfQ]

> you will be really lucky to have a PCP that does the home work to make sure you are referred in-network

They have whole databases on their computers that do this for them. Maybe they refer you to someone across town, or the next town over. But they're going to try hard to keep you in-network. This is also why Canadians are constantly paying out-of-pocket to come to USA to get their knee surgeries and back surgeries.

[dqv]

The accuracy of those databases is questionable as evidenced by $InsuranceCompany calling around to providers asking if they accept $InsuranceCompany. Of course, the better the insurance you have, the easier this problem is to solve because more providers are in-network.