I wish people wouldn't be so rude to those who lose out under the ACA.

[passiveporcupine]

214. The cut-offs for subsidies are cruel, I agree.

Not really. The subsidies are graduated, so if you are just under 400% you barely get anything. It's not like a huge subsidy and then nothing.

I understand why some people (especially those whose employer plans are going up) are in sticker shock. What they don't realize is they have been getting unreasonably low cost health care for so long that they just expect it now...and of course anything taken away from you is going to take some getting used to...but they have to understand that the real cost of their low cost medical coverage was paid by those who didn't have a good employer plan and/or couldn't get or afford medical care/insurance at all.

The whole system was screwed up by employer coverage that made people think they deserved almost free medical care, not just for catastrophic things, but for every day care. It made the whole health care process turn into a game of profit, for medical practitioners and insurance companies, and costs went up so high that those not in the system, could no longer even afford to go pay cash for a doctor's visit.

And yes, once you are used to living on a certain budget and all of a sudden it is cut because your premium doubled, it just may affect your ability to live the way you do now. You may have to give up a few things, you know...adjust how often you spend money on fun and goodies. Eating out, vacations, toys, etc. But remember, if it's hurting you that much, you are probably already living at your means, if not beyond your means. That is a tendency in this country...you make more money, you need a bigger house, a nicer car, more electronics. Well guess what? A lot of people are going without health care/insurance and already living beyond their means, because they don't have a good employer subsidized plan like yours.

So your employer is cutting your bennies and raising your premiums. That's been happening for the last 30 years and was never going to stop, as long as profit was the game in health care. If ACA causes it to happen faster, it will just mean we get single payer that much sooner, because it will finally equalize the right to health care for everyone. In the past, it was very unequal. If you were lucky enough to have employer subsidized insurance, you never really had to think about those who didn't have it.

So now you have to cut back a little, and it hurts. Of course it hurts, but you need to look at the whole picture, not just your personal situation. But I do understand the fear that kicks in with that sticker shock. Nobody wants to have to downgrade their lifestyle.