Here's my ACA rate INCREASE for those who doubt...

[salin]

216. For perspective

as a single 30 something female, in 1998, to self insure with Blue Cross Blue Shield cost $500 a month. No health issues at the time - no factors leading to the high monthly cost. I don't recall the deductible or copay. Am guessing that the deductible was around 1,000. I avoided getting health care, for fear of being given something that would later be deemed as a preexisting condition - because if my base (healthy) cost was $500 a month ($11000 a year), and I wasn't earning more than $35,000) - I was exceptionally fearful of how the cost would rise. Yes - pre taxes, I paid nearly 1/3 of my salary to self-insure since I didn't have employee based health care. You read correctly, pre-taxes I lived on 24k (much less after taxes.) This why there are so many uninsured today - rates kept increasing, inflation kept increasing, but due to two financial recessions, wages did not keep up.

It is all perspective - a year - after nearly 15 yrs of skyrocketing healthcare costs, seems to me a bargain per self-insuring. I would have assumed (per my rate in 1998) that the rate would have been close to $750 or more. Even at your stated rate that is nearly $260 less a month than I paid for basic coverage.

The difference is the depressed wages. In 1998, to a single person earning 35K - I would suggest saving the difference each month to build a cushion. That is much harder to do today. That said - I get the high burden (per the deductable and copay) - however, I wanted to add perspective on the monthly rate per what it was 1.5 decade ago.