OK, the Affordable Care Act makes me feel 100% better about losing my job.....

[rbnyc]

75. I used this tool for my situation...

...and this is part of what it said:

"If the plan offered by your employer doesn’t meet the law’s standards of affordability or comprehensiveness, you can buy a different plan through your state’s exchange. Based on your income, you probably would not qualify for federal assistance to offset the cost of that plan."

So I set about trying to find out what these standards of affordability are and found this:

What This Means for You

Your insurance company can’t raise rates by 10% or more without first explaining its reasons to your state or federal Rate Review program. All explanations will be posted on Health Care.gov and your Rate Review program will give you a chance to comment on them.
Your Rate Review program will determine if the rate increase is unreasonable. A rate hike is unreasonable if, for example:
It is based on faulty assumptions or unsubstantiated trends.
It charges different prices to people who pose similar risks to the insurer.
Your state regulator can approve or reject an unreasonable or excessive rate increase, if your state laws give the regulator this authority.

Some Important Details

The Rate Review rules apply to new plans in the individual and small group markets. (If you are in a health plan that existed on March 23, 2010, your plan may be a grandfathered plan, which is exempt from the Rate Review rules.)
Starting September 1, 2012, each state may have its own minimum premium increase that requires a review, based on the state’s unique premium trends, health care cost trends, and other factors.
If your state doesn’t have a Rate Review program, or has a Rate Review program that is ineffective, the federal government will conduct Rate Reviews in your state.

So right now, my monthly premium (for a total piece of shit HMO) is about $1,500. My employer pays PART of this - and because they do, they can't afford to pay me anything close to what I'm worth. The big benefit for me and my employer is that our rates shouldn't go up more that 10% every year. Wow.

The first thing I thought of was my "rent controlled" apartment when I first moved to New York City in the mid 90s. Rent control means the landlord can only raise the rent a certain percentage under certain circumstances, so every time they have the opportunity, they surely do that. My TINY 3-room apartment with no bathtub was $1,200 a month. I know that some folks who had been in their rent controlled apartments for decades, did have very low rents - but for folks coming into the system, indeed for most folks, rent control did not affordable housing make.

I admit, I don't understand everything about this convoluted Affordable Care Act, but it seems really clear that it doesn't do what it needs to do - divorce health care from employment and from profiteering insurance companies.

EDIT: typo and just to clarify, I do not make that much money. Just enough so that I don't qualify for any type of help, but not so much that I can actually afford my co-pay to actually see a doctor, or to have prevented us from having had boiled chicken bones and pureed broccoli stems for dinner a couple nights this month.